The
French post offices in the Ottoman Empire were
post offices in various cities of the
Ottoman Empire run by
France between 1812 and 1923. France was one of nine countries that had negotiated "Capitulations" with the Ottomans, various extraterritorial rights in exchange for trade opportunities. In the case of
mail, the countries' purpose was to facilitate communication between business interests at home and agents throughout the
Middle East. The system came to end with the
Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
1 piaster overprint on 25-centime
Type Sage, used at
Beirut in December 1885
Originally, the post office used
postage stamps of France, but these were denominated in centimes and
francs instead of the local
piasters, so beginning in 1885, some French stamps were
surcharged in piasters, at a rate of four piasters to the franc.
Beginning in 1902, the
Merson series was issued with the inscription "LEVANT", both as centime/franc, and with higher values surcharged in piasters. In 1905, 15c stamps in
Beirut were surcharged with "1 Piastre / Beyrouth".
3-piaster 30-para overprint on French 25c
forced the closure of all the post offices on 13 October 1914. After the war, only the office in
Istanbul reopened, operating from August 1921 to July 1923. Stamps of France were again surcharged, with values from 30
paras to 75 piasters.
Four post offices also issued their own stamps between 1893 and 1903:
Cavalle (present-day
Kavala),
Dedeagh (
Dedeagatch, present-day
Alexandroupoli),
Port Lagos, and
Vathy (
Samos).
Post offices:
