Turkish gov’t extends deadline to buy unregistered lands

SAKARYA

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The Turkish government has extended a deadline for citizens who have applied to obtain deeds for unregistered lands, which were formerly classified as forestry areas and dubbed “2B lands,” by making the required payments but were not able to acquire them, a top official has announced. 

“We have seen that some of our citizens applied to register such lands and to make the required payments, but they could not. They therefore lost their right to have these 2B lands. We have extended the deadline for them until September,” said Finance Minister Naci Ağbal on March 5. 

He added that citizens who have not applied to acquire such lands can also make the required transactions until September. 

The lands officially categorized as 2B lands, a category officially designated to deforested lands repurposed by individuals, companies, villages or towns, include some 4.1 billion square meters of deforested land, which is deemed impossible to reforest, according to Turkish officials. 

Another purpose of the 2B land sales law is to legalize construction and solve ownership disputes between citizens and the state by granting land users titles to such land, they said.