Halkevleri (Turkish: ''Halkevi'' literally meaning "people's houses", also translatable as "community centres") is the name of a Turkish community enlightenment project. They were founded in 1932 and entirely abolished in 1951.

Background

The Turkish Republic was proclaimed in 1923 after a series of costly wars involving the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. The human loss was great, especially among the intellectuals. Also, the most profitable agricultural land had been lost, and the country was economically bankrupt. After the republic was proclaimed, measures were taken to raise the low literacy rate and to improve the economy. However, the great depression was another blow to the new republic. A second problem of the new republic was the reaction of the conservatives against the reforms, especially the secularist practices of the republic. The Halkevleri can be seen as the successors of the Turkish Hearths, a Turkish social institution that was disestablished before the founding of the Halkevleri in 1932.

The scope of the project

Halkevleri was an enlightenment project aimed towards city dwellers to gain support for reforms. It was planned by

Kemal Atatürk Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a common Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See als ...

, the founder of modern Turkey. On February 17, 1932, branches of Halkevleri were opened in 17 cities. (

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Bolu Bolu is a city in Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province. The population is 131,264 (2012 census). The city has been governed by mayor Tanju Özcan ( CHP) since local elections in 2019. It was the site of Ancient Claudiopolis ...

, Bursa,

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, Denizli,

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İstanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it ...

Malatya Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city h ...

and

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.) But soon, the number increased to 478. Towards 1940, the villages were also included in the project. The sub branches in villages were called Halkodaları ( en, People’s rooms) Towards 1950, the total number of these subsections exceeded 4000.

The activities

The purpose of the project was to enlighten the people and to decrease the influence of the conservative circles. Free courses were offered on the topics of literature, drama, music, fine arts, speaking, and writing as well as handicrafts and tailoring. Folk say and folksongs were surveyed. Halkevleri also had 761 libraries and reading rooms. Atatürk Pertek Halkevi'nde (1937)

Halkevleri operated as a state organization from 1932 till 1951. During the multiparty period (after 1945), Halkevleri were severely criticized on the ground that this project was a supporter of the governing Republican People's Party. The opposing Democrat Party won the 1950 elections. On 8 August 1951 Halkevleri were closed.''Türkiye’nin 75 yılı'', Tempo, İstanbul, 1998

Publications

Halkevleri published nearly seventy-five periodicals, including '' Ülkü'' which was published from February 1933 and August 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halkevleri 1932 establishments in Turkey 1951 disestablishments in Turkey Politics of Turkey Education in Turkey Educational institutions established in 1932 Educational institutions disestablished in 1951 Kemalism

Background

The scope of the project

The activities

Publications

See also

References