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| 1935 |
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| Sunday replaced Friday as the weekly day of rest. | 1 |
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| 1936, July 20 |
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| Signing of the Montreux Convention, which permitted the Turkish government to move troops back onto the straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. In the event of war, the straits were left entirely to the disposal of Turkey. | 2 |
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| 1937, July 8 |
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| Signing of the Sa'dabad Pact, a nonaggression treaty, by Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. | 3 |
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| 1938, Nov. 10 |
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| Death of Atatürk, who was succeeded as president by Ismet Inönü. | 4 |
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| 1939, June |
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| ANNEXATION OF THE HATAY, the area surrounding the cities of Iskenderun (Alexandretta) and Antakya (Antioch). It had formerly been a semiautonomous part (1920–38) of the French mandate for Syria. After hostilities between the Arabs and Turks inside the Hatay, French and Turkish negotiators set up elections, which resulted in the establishment of the autonomous Republic of Hatay. Because the Hatay was politically dominated by ethnic Turks (even if they constituted only some 40 percent of the population), it was soon absorbed into Turkey. Another factor leading to annexation was the overriding desire of France to secure a military alliance with Turkey even at the price of sacrificing the Hatay. | 5 |
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| 1942, Nov. 11 |
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| Passage of the Varlik Vergisi Tax, a large-scale capital levy. The burden fell disproportionately on the Greek, Armenian, and Jewish minorities. Many businessmen were assessed at rates far exceeding the worth of their firms. Those who could not pay lost their fortunes and were sent to forced labor camps. The program lasted until the end of July 1943, when all prisoners were finally released. Perhaps the greatest long-term result of this campaign was the destruction of a large number of minority businesses. | 6 |
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| 1944 |
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| Death of Mehmet Emin Yurdakul (b. 1869), one of the most important poets in modern Turkish literature. He was noted for incorporating folk meters and Turkish themes into his work. (See Turkey) | 7 |
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