Mekteb-i Mülkiye
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," which was originally established in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
on February 12, 1859, during the reign of Sultan
Abdülmecid I Abdülmecid I (, ; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories. Abdülmecid's ...
. In 1936, the institution was relocated to
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
and later incorporated into
Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...
on April 3, 1950, under its current name. The faculty offers higher education in Social Science, Public Finance, Economics, Public Administration, Labor Economics, Business Administration, and International Relations. It is regarded as one of the most influential academic institutions in shaping Turkey's political and administrative landscape.


History

The Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University was originally established in Istanbul in 1859 as an autonomous college by Sultan
Abdülaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 1876 Ottoman coup d'état, overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother ...
. Initially named Mekteb-i Mülkiye-i Şahane (', lit. The Imperial School of Civil Service), it operated under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1918, the school was renamed Mekteb-i Mülkiye and placed under the Ministry of Education. Following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, at the request of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 â€“ 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...
, the school was relocated to Ankara and renamed the School of Political Science, with the duration of study extended to four years. On March 23, 1950, the school was incorporated into
Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...
as the Faculty of Political Science. The faculty has historically been recognized as a bastion of freedom of expression and organization, providing a platform for individuals with diverse political views to express themselves in a democratic environment. This distinctive quality has set it apart from other universities in Turkey. Master’s and doctorate programs were introduced in the 1955–56 academic year. In 1982, the faculty underwent structural changes, expanding to include six specialized departments: International Relations, Political Science and Public Administration, Economics, Public Finance, Business Administration, and Labor Economics and Industrial Relations.


Academics

The Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University currently employs 172 academic staff, comprising 42 professors, 33 associate professors, 34 assistant professors, 18 research assistants with doctorates, 35 research assistants pursuing doctorate degrees, four lecturers, and six experts. Additionally, the faculty is supported by 78 administrative staff. Alumni of the faculty, known as ''Mülkiyeliler'', have a strong presence in various sectors. Many alumni hold prominent positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Public Finance, as well as in public institutions, banks, and private companies. A number of them have also served as prime ministers, ministers, deputies, ambassadors, and governors. The faculty's alumni association, ''Mülkiyeliler Birliği'' ( English: Association of Mülkiye Alumni), is a non-governmental organization with branches across Turkey. It organizes courses, seminars, symposiums, and exhibitions and is actively involved in publishing magazines and books. The Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University provides a range of teaching facilities to accommodate the needs of its courses and departments. These include two amphitheaters, a 450-seat conference hall, large classrooms, seminar rooms, multipurpose rooms, and computer centers. English language preparation classes have been mandatory for all departments since the 2008–2009 academic year, and additional foreign language courses are offered. Since the 1992–1993 academic year, elective language courses focusing on departmental terminology have been available. The faculty's library specializes in social sciences and holds a collection of 108,000 Turkish and foreign language books. It also includes 46,000 domestic and international periodicals, as well as newspaper collections of historical significance. The library features a 300-seat reading room, the Hande Mumcu Reading Room for periodicals, and the Ali Cankaya Room, which houses archival materials. The Faculty of Political Science has been publishing the Journal of Political Science ( Turkish: ''SBF Dergisi'') quarterly since 1943.


Student life

The Faculty of Political Science features a canteen, Coffee Mülkiye, two tea centers, and a dining hall that provides services to faculty, academic, and administrative staff. While Ankara University hosts several student dormitories, their capacity is insufficient to accommodate all students. To address this, various private and state-run dormitories in Ankara offer additional housing options. The faculty provides a range of social and sporting activities, including theater, cinema, art, music, and dance ensembles, as well as more than 30 communities of thought. The faculty's basketball team, Mülkiyespor, supported by its alumni, competes in the secondary league. One of the most notable traditions at the Faculty of Political Science is the Cow Festival ('), a vibrant event held annually since the 1930s, just before final exams. The festival's name is derived from the Turkish slang word "''inek''" meaning "nerd," and features a playful tradition where the top student of a class parades through the streets on a cow. The event is organized by the Festival Organization Committee (''Feskom''), comprising third- and fourth-year students. Faculty members, students, and alumni participate in the festival's opening ceremony, during which a humorous prayer for the year is read collectively. As part of this tradition, a "reading cow sculpture" was erected in front of the faculty in 2000 by that year's Festival Organization Committee.


Mülkiye March

The Mülkiye March was composed by Musa Süreyya, with lyrics written by Cemal Edhem (Yeşil), both alumni of the Class of 1921. The opening lines of the march are translated as: "''We do not want another love, because it is your love in our hearts; stop weeping, beloved country, because we have arrived.''"


Notable alumni

File:Hikmet Çetin.jpg, Hikmet Çetin, Former Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister and first NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan File:Feridun Sinirlioğlu (cropped).jpg,
Feridun SinirlioÄŸlu Feridun Hadi SinirlioÄŸlu (born 30 January 1956) is a Turkish diplomat and politician serving as the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) since 6 December 2024. Previously, he served as permanent ...
, Secretary-general of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...
File:Hashim Al Atassi.jpg,
Hashim al-Atassi Hashim al-Atassi (; 11 January 1875 – 5 December 1960) was a Syrian politician and statesman who served as the President of Syria on three occasions from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951 and 1954 to 1955. Background and early career He was bo ...
, 4th
President of Syria The president of Syria (), officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic, is the head of state and head of government of Syria. The president directs the executive branch and serves as the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Army and Syrian ...
File:Rıza Türmen (cropped).jpg, Rıza Türmen, Former judge of the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
File:Hamdi Ulukaya, official portrait, Homeland Security Council.jpg,
Hamdi Ulukaya Hamdi Ulukaya (born 26 October 1972) is a Turkish billionaire businessman, activist and philanthropist of Kurdish ethnicity based in the United States. He is the founder, owner, chairman, and chief executive officer of the strained yogurt bra ...
, Founder of
Chobani Chobani is an American food company specializing in strained yogurt. The company was founded in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish businessman of Kurds, Kurdish origin. Chobani sells thick, Greek yogurt with a higher protein content than traditional ...
File:Rauf Fico (portret).jpg, Rauf Fico, Former Albanian
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
File:Ilber Ortayli retouched.jpg, İlber Ortaylı, Turkish historian
*
Hashim al-Atassi Hashim al-Atassi (; 11 January 1875 – 5 December 1960) was a Syrian politician and statesman who served as the President of Syria on three occasions from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951 and 1954 to 1955. Background and early career He was bo ...
(1875-1960) — Statesman and President of Syria from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951, and 1954 to 1955. * Abdülkadir Aksu (born 1944) — Politician * Mehmet Ağar (born 1951) — Police chief, politician, government minister and leader of the Democratic Party (DP) * Rıdvan Akar (born 1961) — Journalist and author * Ekrem Alican (1916-2000) — Politician, government minister and leader of the New Turkey Party (YTP) * Ertuğrul Apakan (born 1947) — Diplomat * Sadun Aren (1922–2008) — Academic and politician * İnal Batu (1936-2013) — Diplomat and politician *
Hikmet Bilâ Hikmet Bilâ (; 1954 – 21 October 2011) was a Turkish journalist and columnist. He was the author of three books about Turkish political history. Biography He was born in Zonguldak in 1954. After graduating from high school, he was admitted ...
(1954-2011) — Journalist and columnist * Necdet Calp (1922-1998) — Civil servant and politician * Nurettin Canikli (born 1960) — Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey * Hasan Cemal (born 1944) — Journalist, former editor-in-chief of ''
Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...
'' *
Mustafa Cengiz Mustafa Cengiz (25 December 1949 – 28 November 2021) was a Former Bureaucrat and Turkish businessman who served as the president of sports club Galatasaray S.K. Early life and education Mustafa Cengiz was born in Nizip, Gaziantep Province, ...
(1949–2021) — Turkish businessmen, former president of Galatasaray S.K. *
Cengiz Çandar Cengiz Çandar (born 1948) is a Turkish politician, journalist, senior columnist, and a Middle East expert. He is elected to the Turkish Parliament (TBMM) in May 2023, as Deputy of Diyarbakır from the pro-Kurdish, the Peoples’ Equality and De ...
(born 1948) — Journalist and former war correspondent * Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (born 1968) — Politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey since 24 November 2015 * Hikmet Çetin (born 1937) — Politician, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, first NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan and former leader of the
Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
(CHP) * Sulejman Delvina (1884-1932) — Albanian politician * Nexhip Draga (1867-1920) — Albanian politician *
Shukri al-Quwatli Shukri al-Quwatli (; 6 May 189130 June 1967) was a Syrian politician and statesman who was the first president of post-independence Syria, in 1943. He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence and unity of the Ottoman Em ...
(1891-1967) — First President of Syria from 1943 to 1949, from 1955 to 22 February 1958 *
Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...
(born 1946) —
Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...
leader and political thinker * Halil Ergün (born 1946) — Actor * Rauf Fico (born 1881) — Albanian politician and diplomat *
Mesut Yılmaz Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz () (6 November 1947 – 30 October 2020) was a Turkish politician. He was the leader of the Motherland Party (, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey. His first two prime-ministerial term ...
(born 1947) — Politician and former Prime Minister * Vecdi Gönül (born 1939) — Politician and former Minister of National Defence of Turkey * Şükrü Sina Gürel (born 1950) — Diplomat, politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs * Aydın Güven Gürkan (1941-2006) — Academic, politician, former Minister of Labor and Social Security, and leader of the People's Party (HP) and Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) * Hasan Celal Güzel (born 1946) — Politician and journalist * Necip Hablemitoğlu (1954-2002) — Historian and intellectual *
Vahit Melih Halefoğlu Vahit Melih Halefoğlu (19 November 1919 – 20 January 2017) was a Turkish politician and diplomat. Following his education at the School of Political Science in Ankara University in 1942 he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between ...
(born 1919) — Diplomat, politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs * Mustafa Kamalak (born 1948) — Politician and leader of the
Felicity Party The Felicity Party (, SAADET) is an Islamism, Islamist Turkey, Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (Turkey), Virtue Party ...
(SP) * Cezmi Kartay (1920-2000) — Civil servant, politician and leader of the Social Democracy Party (SODEP) * Ahmet Taner Kışlalı (1939-1999) — Academic, political scientist, columnist, intellectual * Atilla Koç (born 1946) — Politician and former Minister of Culture and Tourism * İsmet Kotak (1939–2011) — Turkish Cypriot politician, public administrator, journalist and columnist *
Hayri Kozakçıoğlu Hayri Kozakçıoğlu (1938 – May 23, 2013) was a Turkish high-ranking civil servant and politician. He served as district governor, police chief, province governor in various administrative divisions. He was known as the first regional governo ...
(1938-2013) — High-ranking civil servant and politician * Yalçın Küçük (born 1938) — Writer, philosopher, economist and historian * Ferit Melen (1906-1988) — Civil servant, politician and former Prime Minister * Altan Öymen (born 1932) — Journalist, author, politician and former leader of the
Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
(CHP) * Abdüllatif Şener (born 1954) — Academic, politician, former Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister * Aras Onur (born 1982) — Author, poet * İlber Ortaylı (born 1947) — Academic and historian * Adnan Sezgin (born 1954) — Former footballer *
Feridun SinirlioÄŸlu Feridun Hadi SinirlioÄŸlu (born 30 January 1956) is a Turkish diplomat and politician serving as the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) since 6 December 2024. Previously, he served as permanent ...
(born 1956) — Secretary-general of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...
, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey * Nabi Şensoy (born 1945) — Former ambassador of Turkey to the United States *
Cahit Talas Cahit Talas (1917 – 14 October 2006) was a Turkish academic who was the dean of Ankara University's Faculty of Political Science for two terms. He served as the minister of labor between 1960 and 1961. He is known for being the pioneer of soci ...
(1917–2006) — Academic and dean of the Faculty for two terms *
Emre Taner Emre Taner (born 1942) is a Turkish civil servant who was until May 2010 the undersecretary (i.e. chief) of the governmental intelligence agency of Turkey, the National Intelligence Organization (, MİT). Career After graduating from the Sch ...
(born 1942) — Civil servant and former chief of the
National Intelligence Organization loction 39°54'25.0"N 32°39'59.3"E The National Intelligence Organization (), also known by its Turkish language, Turkish initials MIT or MİT, or colloquially as the Organization (), is an intelligence agency of the Turkish government tasked ...
(MİT) * Osman Nuri Tekeli (1893-1976) — Civil servant and province governor * Mümtaz'er Türköne (born 1956) — Academic and author * Rıza Türmen (born 1941) — Former judge of the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
* Ahmet Üzümcü (born 1951) — Diplomat and director-general of the
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW; French: ''Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques'', OIAC) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), ...
*
Hamdi Ulukaya Hamdi Ulukaya (born 26 October 1972) is a Turkish billionaire businessman, activist and philanthropist of Kurdish ethnicity based in the United States. He is the founder, owner, chairman, and chief executive officer of the strained yogurt bra ...
(born 1972) — Entrepreneur, businessman and founder of
Chobani Chobani is an American food company specializing in strained yogurt. The company was founded in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish businessman of Kurds, Kurdish origin. Chobani sells thick, Greek yogurt with a higher protein content than traditional ...


See also

*
Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...


External links


Mekteb-i Mülkiye (Official Website)


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mekteb-I Mülkiye 1859 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Education in the Ottoman Empire Ankara University Political science in Turkey Political science education