Sales of deforested land fail to impress

Nuriye Doğu ISTANBUL / Radikal

There are 347,300 blocks of 2-B lands.

Only a quarter of the users of 2-B land, property which has been controversially put up for sale after being declared “deforested,” have applied to purchase such real estate, necessitating a likely six-month extension for applications. 

A law enacted in late April paved the way to sell officially declared defrosted land in a move the government hoped would earn it a substantial amount of revenue.

Citizens who attested to being the user or owner of real property within the 2-B areas before Dec. 31, 2011, can apply until Oct. 30 to purchase them. But a disappointing number of applicants may prompt the Cabinet to extend the deadline by six months, sources said. Revenue offices, meanwhile, have also been encouraging users to lodge applications to receive deeds.

There are 347,300 blocks of 2-B lands, of which the southern province of Antalya has the most at 65,000 followed by Istanbul, the western provinces of Balıkesir and Muğla, as well as the southern province of Mersin. 

Muğla leads other provinces in terms of the rate of applicants. An official at the Muğla Revenue Office said special teams had been established to tour villages to inform farmers about the law. 

“[The law] has been announced in big cities, but there are many who does not know about the 2-B,” the official said.