Postage Stamps and Postal History of Turkey - The Republic of Turkey

The Republic of Turkey

On 1 November 1922, the National Assembly, led by Mustafa Kemal, abolished the Sultinate and the last Sultan, Mehmed VI abdicated and fled the country. Turkey was declared a republic on 28 October 1923. The republic's first stamp issue was a definitive series depicting a star and crescent, somewhat reminiscent of the Duloz issue. This issue marked the end of the use of the Tughra which had appeared as a design element in most of Turkey's stamps from 1863 to 1922.

The first republic issue was followed by an issue commemorating the Treaty of Peace at Lausanne, and other issues depicting national scenes and Mustafa Kemal. From the late 1920s up to 1940, Turkey overprinted a number of stamps to commemorate events such as exhibitions or the opening of a railroad.

In 1931, Turkey began a new stamp issue in a more contemporary style depicting Mustafa Kemal. Mustafa Kemal would continue to be a common subject of Turkey's stamps thereafter. In the following decades, Turkey's stamp production became more varied, producing colorful stamps with a great diversity of images including scenes of the country, archeological sites, famous Turks, native flora and fauna, and folk costumes, to name just a few.

Up to 1937, all of Turkey's stamps had been printed by either engraving or typography. In 1937, Turkey issued its first stamp printed by lithography and in 1938 it printed a stamp issue by photogravure, which thereafter became the standard methods for printing its stamps.