Weight

"2 kilo” inscription is written in both Arabic and Latin letters. In the Ottoman Empire, the process of introducing the metric system to meet international criteria began during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz with an imperial edict and statute dated 1869. The new legislation was to go into effect in official transactions as of March 1870, but the public could continue to use both the old and new measurement systems until 1873, whereupon the old measures would be prohibited all together. The initiatives during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz failed to bring the new metric system into widespread use. A more comprehensive transition was only made possible through Sultan Abdülhamid II’s statute dated 1881. From 1883 onwards, weights that complied with the metric system were marked with an official inscription. Despite these efforts, the country reverted to the old system once again in 1895 and the dirhem remained in use for some time in the Ottoman lands. The final and irrevocable implementation of the metric system was accomplished with the Measurements Act promulgated on 26 March 1931, after the establishment of the Turkish Republic.