''Ülkü'' ( Turkish: ''The Ideal'') was a magazine which existed between 1933 and 1950 and which was one of seventy-five official media outlets of the People's Houses, cultural institutions started in 1932 as an enlightenment project. The title of the magazine was given by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey.

History and profile

''Ülkü'' was first published in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

on 5 February 1933 as one of the organs of the People's Houses. The owner of the magazine was Ankara People's House. The goal was to provide a theoretical basis for the six pillars of Kemalism, namely republicanism, populism, nationalism, laicism, statism, and reformism, and to faciliate their adoption by Turkish people. The magazine included the following major sections among others: literary work,

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

, history, fine arts, sociology, philosophy economy, agriculture, science, home management, translated works and news from the People's Houses. The target audience of the magazine was intellectuals. During its lifetime the frequency of ''Ülkü'' changed several times. It was published on a monthly basis between its start in February 1993 and August 1941 and between January 1947 and its closure in August 1950. It was published biweekly in the period October 1941–December 1946. The publisher of the magazine also changed, and the following were the publishers of ''Ülkü'': Hâkimiyeti Milliye Publishing House, Ulus Publishing House, Ankara Ulusal Publishing House and Zerbamat Publishing House. The magazine produced a total of 272 issues before it ceased publication in August 1950.

Directors and editors

Nusret Kemal Köymen and Necip Ali Küçüka were the directors of ''Ülkü'' between February 1933 and 1941. In July 1936

Mehmet Fuat Köprülü Mehmet Fuat Köprülü (December 5, 1890 – June 28, 1966), also known as Köprülüzade Mehmed Fuad, was a highly influential Turkish sociologist, turkologist, scholar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republ ...

was appointed

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. From 1941 Ahmet Kutsi Tecer began to edit the magazine. In the period January 1947–August 1950 the directors were Tahsin Banguoğlu and Mehmet Tuğrul.

Contributors

Many writers and politicians contributed to ''Ülkü'' without being paid for their writings. Some of the leading contributors included

Recep Peker Mehmet Recep Peker (5 February 1889 – 1 April 1950) was a Turkish military officer and politician. He served in various ministerial posts and finally as the Prime Minister of Turkey. He self-identified as a FascistÖzkaya, Ahmet. ''Recep Pe ...

Şevket Aziz Kansu Şevket Aziz Kansu (1903, Edirne–1983, Ankara) was a Turkish physician and academic. He specialised in anthropology and archaeology and was the first rector of Ankara University. Education and academic career Kansu was born in Edirne. He stud ...

, Behçet Kemal Çağlar,

Ahmet Adnan Saygun Ahmet Adnan Saygun (; 7 September 1907 – 6 January 1991) was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. One of a group of composers known as the Turkish Five who pioneered western classical music in Turkey, his works show a master ...

, Pertev N. Boratav,

Elif Naci Elif Naci Kalpakçıoğlu (1898 – 8 May 1987), best known as Elif Naci, was a Turkish painter, curator, journalist and writer. Early life Elif Naci was born in Gelibolu, Çanakkale, Ottoman Empire in 1898. He completed his primary education in ...

Niyazi Berkes Niyazi Berkes (21 October 1908 – 18 December 1988) was a Turkish Cypriot sociologist. Early life and education Berkes was born in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, on 21 September 1908, shortly after the Young Turk Revolution in Turkey.

, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Suut Kemal Yetkin, Yusuf Ziya Ortaç,

Orhan Veli Kanık Orhan Veli Kanık or Orhan Veli (14 April 1914 – 14 November 1950) was a Turkish poet. Kanık is one of the founders of the Garip Movement together with Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet. Aiming to fundamentally transform traditional form i ...

Hasan Âli Yücel Hasan Âli Yücel (17 December 1897 - 26 February 1961) was a Turkish education reformer and philosophy teacher who served as minister of national education of Turkey from December 1938 to August 1946. He is remembered for the foundation of Vil ...

and

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (1911 – 21 September 1975) was a Turkish painter, mosaic-maker, muralist, writer and poet. His art work was inspired by Anatolian village scenes and folk literature, and included traditional handicraft folk patterns. E ...

Content

Until the editorship of Mehmet Fuat Köprülü in 1936 ''Ülkü'' published articles on the

Ottoman state The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were j ...

which were based on popular accounts. Then its content became much more sophisticated with the editorship of Köprülü. Ahmet Kutsi Tecer's

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

entitled ''Koçyiğit Köroğlu'' was first published in ''Ülkü'' in 1941.

Significance

Although the People Houses published numerous periodicals, only ''Ülkü'' lasted for a long period and functioned as the official organ of all of these institutions. It was distributed nationwide not only to cities but also to small villages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulku 1933 establishments in Turkey 1950 disestablishments in Turkey Biweekly magazines Defunct magazines published in Turkey Kemalism Magazines established in 1933 Magazines disestablished in 1950 Magazines published in Ankara Monthly magazines published in Turkey State media Turkish-language magazines