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Selim II (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى Selīm-i sānī), also known as Selim the Yellow (28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574) was an 11th Emperor. He was the Ottoman sultan and the 90th caliph of Islam. He was the son of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan. He ruled the Ottoman Empire between 1566-1574. Upon his father's death, he succeeded to the throne as the eleventh sultan in 1566 as his only son. Like his grandfather Selim I, he had a short period of power by staying on the throne for 8 years. As soon as he became sultan, he made his first expedition to the West. The country has expanded its borders to Central Europe. Due to the events that took place in the Eastern part of his country, he fought with Tatars, Uzbeks, Circassians and Georgians. Basra, Baghdad, Cyprus, Tunisia were among those who surrendered unconditionally. Like his father, he expanded his country's sovereignty in the seas and gave importance to maritime sovereignty.
With the conquests of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Mediterranean Sea has now become an Ottoman lake. However, the Venetian pirates had one last refuge left. We can list the reasons for the conquest of Cyprus as follows:
Suleiman the Magnificent's bequest to his son Selim II as "If we don't have the chance to conquer Cyprus, you conquer it", whereupon Selim II promised his father "If I become sultan, I will destroy Cyprus on the head of pirates!" Despite the objections of Sokullu Mehmet Pasha, the Ottoman Navy set sail on May 15, 1570, due to the hijacking of the gift ship sent to Selim II by Egypt from the Mediterranean, the confiscation of all the gifts and the throwing of the crew into the dungeon, and dozens of other reasons. On May 18, 1570, the fortress of Kevkeban was conquered. On July 2, 1570, Leftari Castle was taken, and on July 9, 1570, Kyrenia Castle was taken. On September 9, 1570, Nicosia was conquered, and finally the conquest of Cyprus was completed with the surrender of Famagusta Castle on August 1, 1571.
Sultan Selim Han, who established the foundation with the conquest of Cyprus, established the foundation in 1571.
Established with an understanding of charity and solidarity and surviving for 453 years, the Cyprus Foundations Administration is one of the oldest foundation institutions. Starting from the day the island came under Ottoman rule, initiatives and efforts to establish foundations, especially by state elders (Sultan, vizier and other high-ranking civil servants) and anyone with the means, have brought the number of foundations established from that period to the present day to two thousand. Immediately after the conquest in 1571, a large number of foundations were established and developed with the encouragement of Sultan Selim II, and this institution took root throughout the island.
Among the first foundations established in Cyprus, the most important ones are:
Lala Mustafa Pasha Foundation, which was established in H. Rebiü'l-Evvel 997 (M. 1 January 1589),
The foundations established on 10 Rabiü'l-Evvel 998 H. (M. 17 January 1590) and H. 10 Muharram 1008 (M. 2 August 1599) by Cafer Pasha bin Abdülmennan, the Beylerbeyi of Cyprus,
The foundation was established on 1 Safer 1001 H. (7 November 1592 A.D.) by Mehmet Bey ibn-i Abubakr, the Bey of Paphos,
Mahpeyker Sultan (Tiled Valide Sultan) Foundation dated 1 Zi'l-Ka'de 1039 (M. 12 June 1630),
Ahmet Efendi ibn-i Sadettin Efendi Foundation dated 1 Muharram 1052 (M. 1 April 1642),
Dated 12 Rabiü'l-Ahir 1059 H. (M. 25 April 1649) Belkıs Hatun bint-i deceased Ferruh Agha Foundation...
The understanding of foundations, which took root and became traditional during the Ottoman Empire, continued after the island was taken over by the British in 1878 and many new foundations were established.
Among them, the most important are the following:
Mehmet Efendi bin İsmail Efendi Foundation dated 14 Rebiü'l-Ahir 1306 (M. 18 December 1888),
Merchant Hacı Mustafa Nuri Efendi bin Osman Foundation dated 3 Rabiü'l Evvel 1307 (M. 28 October 1889),
22 Jamaziyah al-Awwal 1307 (14 January 1890 A.H.) dated Ummuhan Woman bint Mustafa bin Abdullah Foundation,
Hafiz Ali Efendi bin Molla Mehmet Foundation dated 11 Jamaziye'l-Awwal 1308 (M. 23 December 1890)
Mehmet Agha bin Hasan Foundation dated 9 Jamaziye'l-Ahir 1308 (M. 22 November 1890) ...
While the foundations established during the Ottoman Empire were mostly in the form of endowments of immovable properties (houses, mills, fields, farms, aqueducts, etc.), the endowments during the British rule were mostly movable properties (movable goods, goods).
Foundations, which were established immediately after the conquest of the island by the Ottomans and became the most important institution on the island, were administered differently in different periods in parallel with the Ottoman understanding of administration on the island and lost its unique administrative structure to a great extent with the arrangements made after the lease of Cyprus to the British in 1878. In 1878, the British changed the administration of the Foundations and brought this noble institution under their control, thanks to the additional protocol to the agreement between the Ottoman Empire and Britain regulating the new status of Cyprus. The British annexed the island in 1914 after the parties to the First World War were determined, and during this transition period, based on the Seager Report, the British seized the lands belonging to the Foundations and utilized them as they wished.
Great struggles were waged to ensure that the foundations were handed over to the Turkish Cypriots, who were the real owners. During this period, the Foundations carried out intensive work to meet the basic and social needs of the Turkish Cypriots. Intensive and voluntary efforts were made to build Turkish schools and improve existing ones, to provide salaries of teachers and imams, that is, to build mosques and repair existing ones, to repair inns, baths, mills, aqueducts, fountains, tombs and similar structures that are heirlooms of past generations, to support education and agriculture by providing scholarships to students and loans to the villagers, and to supervise the organization of Sharia Courts in order to protect the rights of Turkish society.
The draft law, which was prepared as a result of the Awqaf Rally organized by the Turkish Cypriot National Union in Nicosia on February 6, 1955 and the press conference held by the Turkish Awqaf Executive Director Fuat Sami Bey on March 19, 1955, and the meetings held in all districts and villages, was announced to the public in the Official Gazette dated July 22, 1955 under the name of "Law Amending and Combining the Islamic Sacred Law on Foundations and the Law on the Administration of the Religious Property of Muslims".
On April 15, 1956, Doctor Fazıl Küçük, who also served as the President of the Supreme Council of Evkaf, and his colleagues contributed greatly to the return of the Foundations to the Turkish Society. With the legislation issued starting from this date, the Foundations Administration was given economic duties such as financial, commercial, industrial, agricultural and touristic initiatives, establishing businesses, and being a partner in existing businesses and companies, in addition to its religious and social duties.
Meaning of the word Evkaf (Foundations)
Evkaf, the plural of the word "Vakf" or "Foundation", means Foundations. As a special term originating from Islamic Law, Waqf is more important in terms of its legal value than its meaning in daily use or in the dictionary. Ahkâmü'l Evkaf (Provisions on Foundations), which is considered as the Constitution of Foundations, defines the word foundation as follows: "Waqf is the protection and preservation of certain property or immovable property until the end of the period of existence of that property or immovable property, the benefits and profits of which belong to the servants of Allah." According to another definition, Waqf means "an object or immovable property whose benefits and profits belong to the servants of Allah (swt), and from that moment on it becomes the property of Allah Almighty, and it is strictly forbidden to be owned, possessed or appropriated."
According to the definitions in the Ahkām al-Awqaf, Waqf is the leaving of certain property or immovable property for the benefit of humanity for the sake of Allah. Thus, the Waqf is recognized as the property of Allah, it is offered for the benefit of Allah's servants, it is excluded from the concept and scope of private property, and it is preserved and maintained forever in the service of humanity, with efforts to maintain and develop it. In summary, the endowed property or immovable property cannot be sold, bought, inherited, donated or used as a pledge. The endowed object or immovable property is no longer private property; it has become the property of Allah, as it has been offered for the benefit and service of humanity for the sake of Allah, as an act of charity. The endowed property or immovable property retains its characteristics of being a foundation as long as the world lasts and can only be used for the purpose for which its benefits and profits are dedicated.