Russia post in Turkey year 1918 stamps Print Errors – ROPIT

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Russia post in Levant Turkey 1918 Print Errors – ROPIT Agencies

The Russian post offices in the Ottoman Empire were a set of post offices operated by Russia in various cities of the Ottoman Empire from the late 18th century until September 1914.
The earliest mail service between St. Petersburg and Constantinople consisted of diplomatic pouches carried from 1721 onward. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774 provided for a regular mail service, for which a consular post office was established in Constantinople.
In 1856, the Russian Steam Navigation and Trading Company (ROPiT) took over postal operations. It handled mail service between the various offices and funneled mail to the rest of Russia through Odessa. The ROPiT offices received a status equivalent to regular Russian post offices in 1863.
The first postage stamp of the Russian post offices in the Ottoman Empire was a large square design issued in 1863 and valued at six kopecks. Over the years, they issued various stamp designs featuring the imperial coat of arms, sailing ships, and overprints.
In 1909, a 50th-anniversary commemorative issue was produced by substituting the ROPiT sailing ship logo in place of the imperial eagle. That year also saw the issuance of stamps overprinted in French with the names of cities where the Russian post offices were located.
The Russian post offices in the Ottoman Empire operated until September 1914, when they were closed due to the outbreak of World War I.