Turkish automobile association
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The Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Turing ve Otomobil Kurumu) (TTOK), also known as Turkish Automobile Association, is an amateur and international organization dedicated to tourism and the automobile sector. It was founded in 1923 at the behest of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 â€“ 10 November 1938) was a Turkish MareÅŸal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
by a group of intellectuals led by ReÅŸit Saffet Atabinen, a diplomat at the time and a historian. The club is a member of
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA) and
Alliance Internationale de Tourisme Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT) is an international federation of motoring organisations created to "represent the interests of national automobile associations and touring clubs". It was founded at the Casino Bourgeois in Luxembourg Cit ...
(AIT).


History

The association was established right after the proclamation of the Republic as "Turkish Travel Association" ( tr, Türk Seyyahin Cemiyeti). It was renamed later to "Touring Club Turc" ( tr, Türkiye Turing Klöbü). In 1930, the association received the legal status of a non-profit organization, and gained rights with regard to customs and traffic laws. The club, working for many years in the beginning as a governmental agency, served in the fields of tourism, culture and technical issues. Highly needed materials for tourism such as prospectuses, posters, tourist guides and road maps in the early period of the newly founded republic were prepared and published by the association. Furthermore, it established and organized the first language courses, tourist guide exams, tourism congresses and conferences. The association, located in an office at
Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most notabl ...
, Istanbul with two rooms only and with two employees, had the assistance of a small number of volunteers with wide travelling experience. Despite its limited personal and financial resources, it achieved remarkable success. An important event in the history of the club was the hosting of a meeting of the International Touring Alliance (AIT), the club became a member of shortly. For this purpose, Atatürk ordered the formally opening of Dolmabahçe Palace to public for the first time since the abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate. He announced to the Istanbul press that the Touring Club Association will be under his personal protection. In order to keep up with increasing requirements following the economic developments at home and abroad during the 1950s, the association moved its office to another places and expanded its workforce step by step. In 1971, the club signed an agreement with the Ministry of Customs and Finance to charge commission for temporary import license at the border that was granted to abroad living Turkish people, who came to Turkey by car. This fee was fifty percent less than that was charged by the European associations. This income secured the club's financial source for projected activities. Following the signing of an agreement with the Municipality of Istanbul in 1979, the club started, under the leadership of Çelik Gülersoy, a comprehensive cultural and touristic restoration project. Many historical buildings and palace parks were renovated and opened to public use as recreational venues, among them Chora Church environs (1977), Çamlıca Hill (1980),
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and Çadır pavilions within
Yıldız Park Yıldız Park ( tr, Yıldız Parkı) is a historical, urban park in BeÅŸiktaÅŸ district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. The park is located in Yıldız quarter between the palaces of Yıldız and ÇıraÄ ...
(1982),
Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
,
Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
and
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
pavilions within
Emirgan Park The Emirgan Park ( tr, Emirgan Korusu or rarely ''Emirgan Parkı'') is a historical urban park located at the Emirgan neighbourhood in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Bosphorus. It is one of the largest publi ...
(1979–1983), Hotel Yeşil Ev (1984),
Khedive Palace The Khedive's Palace ( tr, Hıdiv Kasrı, "Khedive Palace"), also known as Çubuklu Palace (''Çubuklu Sarayı''), is located on the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, and was once the residence of Khedive Abbas II of Egypt and Sud ...
(1984) and Soğukçeşme Street (1985–1986) The obligation to take a temporary import document from customs was lifted in 1990 resulting in a great income loss for the club. Finally in 1994, another source of its finance diminished as the administration of historical recreational venues ended when the city's municipality concluded not to renew the lease contract regarding the parks and pavilions in them. The club tried to overcome the financial difficulties by selling its properties one by one it owned from 1974 on.


International documents provided

The Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey is authorized to provide following documents, which are recognized internationally: *Temporary entrance card from customs * International driving license *International vehicle document * International traffic insurance (Green card) *Temporary entrance card for foreign vehicles (Blue card)


Notable people

Following persons played a major role in the history of the club. Figures enclosed in parentheses are service years: *Reşit Saffet Atabinen, founder and president (1923–1965) *Said N.Duhani, manager (1950s-1966) * Çelik Gülersoy, clerk (1947–1957), assistant manager (1957–1961), legal consultant (1961–1965), general manager (1965–2003) *Dr. Uğur İbrahimhakkıoğlu, Vice President ( -2006), ex- president (2006–2010) *Dr. Bülent Katkak. Current President. Has been exerting all his efforts since he took power doing fabulous jobs for the community, organizing social benefit events.


References


External links


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{{Authority control Automobile associations Sports organizations established in 1923
Auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
Touring and Automobile Club Non-profit organizations based in Turkey Tourism in Turkey