Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Üç Yıl Süren İlk Şirket Davası: Nestlé’nin Birinci Dünya Harbi İle Ortaya Çıkan Tâbiiyet Sorunu
The First Corporate Case in The Ottoman Empire, Which Lasted Three Years: Nestle's Nationality Question Arising With The First World War

Summary/Abstract: Copying the [Baltalimanı] Trade signed with the Ottoman Empire in 1838 gave England the opportunity to turn the territories belonging to the Ottoman Empire into a large market and its lands into an untouched trade and production base for British companies. Being a British company meant having serious commercial privileges, benefiting from commercial treats, not being hindered by bureaucratic procedures, and therefore increasing its profits. A "milk extract" and "chocolate" producer Nestlé - a British-Swiss partnershipthat entered the Ottoman market, also chose to take advantage of this opportunity.Nestlé, which decided to expand its operations in the Ottoman lands after the II. Constitutional Monarchy era supported this goal with a comprehensive advertising campaign and social responsibilities. Taking advantage of being a dual nationality company, Nestlé overcame the problems that arose in this process by choosing British nationality, However, the outbreak of the First World War and the fact that England and the Ottoman Empire were on opposing sides as "adversarial" states turned this advantage into a disadvantage. During the war, companies belonging to the Allied Powers would be subject to special treatment.Nestlé, which attracted the hostility of Turkish confectioners due to its comprehensive market move, was taken to court by Şekerci Mehmed Refet Efendi in 1916 and asked to clearly determine which of the two nationalities was valid. The trial process, which started in the Beyoglu Court of Appeal, was moved to the State Council upon the request of Nestlé. On the one hand, the First World War and on the other hand, the legal struggle continued with all its intensity. At every stage of the case, which continued for nearly 3 years, Nestlé tried to prove that it has been a company of Swiss nationality since 1906 by submitting various objection petitions.The State Council evaluated in detail all the arguments put forward by the company. It also took into consideration the multifaceted opposing opinion prepared by the Bab-ı Ali Legal Consultancy. It then gave Nestlé the opportunity to present new evidence. The State Council, due to the newly presented evidence, did not find the first legal ruling sufficient and requested the Legal Consultancy to prepare another legal opinion. Ultimately, the State Council issued its final decision, after evaluating the evidence put forward by both sides, without prioritizing one over the other. The Court thus showed that even in extraordinary times such as war, the State Council did not opt for a "shortcut and easy" approach, and that it aimed to achieve justice even for the company of a country it was fighting against. The case, which lasted nearly three years, was important in that it showed how carefully the rights and investments of foreign companies were acted upon, without compromising the guiding influence of the conditions of war. This article, which was prepared based on Ottoman archive documents, will also shed light on the present day.

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