 In the preparation for possible entry into World War II , the Turkish government introduced a tax , the <unk> <unk> , which disproportionately targeted Turkey 's non @-@ Muslim residents . Many Armenians , and other non @-@ Muslim populations , were forced to sell their property at significantly reduced prices through public auctions in order to pay for the sudden tax hike or have the properties confiscated by the state . In addition , the law allowed authorities to confiscate the property of any relative of a taxed person in order to pay the tax . From this tax , the Turkish government collected 314 @,@ 900 @,@ 000 liras or about US $ 270 million ( 80 % of the state budget ) from the confiscation of non @-@ Muslim assets . 
