The Turkish Historical Society (; TTK) is a research society studying the

history of Turkey The history of Turkey, understood as the history of the area now forming the territory of the Republic of Turkey, includes the history of both Anatolia (the Asian part of Turkey) and Eastern Thrace (the European part of Turkey). These two prev ...

and the

Turkish people Turks (), or Turkish people, are the largest Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group, comprising the majority of the population of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. They generally speak the various Turkish dialects. In addition, centuries-old Turkish co ...

, founded in 1931 by the initiative of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 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 ...

, with headquarters in

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 ( ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It has been described as "the Kemalist official producer of nationalist historical narratives". Turkish sociologist Fatma Müge Göçek states that the TTK "failed to carry out independent research of Turkish history, remaining instead the voice of the official ideology".

History

In 1930 the Committee for the study of Turkish History (''Türk Tarihi Tetkik Heyeti'') was established with the support of the Turkish Hearths. In 1931 the Association for the Study of Turkish History (''Türk Tarihi Tetkik Cemiyeti'') was founded, which in 1935 was renamed in Turkish Historical Society. in 1940, the Turkish Historical Society arose to an association working for the public interest. On 11 August 1983, it was elevated to a constitutionally protected institution under the Atatürk High Institution of Culture, Language and History (''Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu,'' AKDTYK'')''. According to Turkish historian

Doğan Gürpınar Doğan Gürpınar is a Turkish historian whose work focuses on the late Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. He is employed by Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, c ...

, by the 2000s the THA's "main function became the production and reproduction of the official line to counter Armenian allegations, in addition to publishing numerous monographs on Turkish history following a Rankean-cum-statist methodology and perspective."

Publications

In 1930 the book ''Türk Tarihinin Ana Hatları'' (The Mainlines of Turkish History) which emphasized the ability of Turks was published under the auspices of the Committee for the study of Turkish History This book, printed only 100 times, formed the basis for the

Turkish History Thesis The Turkish History Thesis (''Türk Tarih Tezi'') is a Turkish ultranationalist, pseudohistoric thesis which posited the belief that the Turks moved from their ancestral homeland in Central Asia and migrated to China, India, the Balkans, t ...

, which posited that Turks emigrated in several waves to China, India, Northern Africa and Europa to populate the areas and bringing the native people there civilization. In 1932 it released a four-volume history text for all secondary schools in Turkey upon request of the Ministry of Education. The text claimed that the ancient Turks have already had the ideas of nationality and the Turkish race. The institute releases a regular bulletin called ''Belleten''.

Presidents

The institution's first president was

Tevfik Bıyıklıoğlu Tevfik Bıyıklıoğlu (1891 – 24 November 1961) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, who was a founding member of the Turkish Historical Society, Turkish Historical Association, which he served as its first president. Biography He wa ...

. In July 2008 its president Yusuf Halaçoğlu was dismissed. It was speculated that the decision reflected the government's desire for rapprochement with

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Shortly before the decision, foreign minister

Ali Babacan Ali Babacan (; born 4 April 1967) is a Turkish politician, economist, and engineer. He is the founder and current leader of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA). He served 13 years as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economy, Chie ...

greeted Armen Martirosyan, Armenia's ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, in a reception related to Turkey's temporary accession the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. Before that, president

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

had invited his Turkish counterpart,

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th president of Turkey from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister of Turkey, Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently s ...

, to a World Cup qualifying game between the two countries' national soccer teams. In 2009, the president of the organization falsely claimed: Göçek notes that Halaçoğlu does not speak all the languages in the archives that he purportedly consulted and many of the claims he made are not just false but actually impossible.

Presidents by the following years

(1931-1932) * Prof. Dr.

Yusuf Akçura Yusuf Akçura (; ; 2 December 1876 – 11 March 1935) was a prominent Turkish politician, writer and ideologist of ethnic Tatar origin. He developed into a prominent ideologue and advocate of Pan-Turkism during the early republican period, whos ...

(1932-1935) *

Hasan Cemil Çambel Hasan Cemil Çambel (1879–1967) was a Turkish politician and historian, who was a founding member of the Turkish Historical Association, which he also served as its president. He was a close friend of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal ...

(1935-1941) * Ord. Prof. Dr.

Şemsettin Günaltay Mehmet Şemsettin Günaltay (; 17 July 1883 – 19 October 1961) was a Turkish historian, politician, and Prime Minister of Turkey from 1949 to 1950. Biography Günaltay was born 1883 in the Kemaliye town of the Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Az ...

(1941-1961) * Ord. Prof. Dr. Şevket Aziz Kansu (1962-1973) * Ord. Prof. Dr. Enver Ziya Karal (1973-1982) * Ord. Prof. Dr.

Sedat Alp Prof. Ord. Sedat Alp (January 1, 1913 in Veroia – October 9, 2006 in Ankara) was the first Turkish archaeologist, historian and academic with a specialization in Hittitology, and was among the foremost names in the field. He was the presiden ...

(1982-1983) * Prof. Dr. Yaşar Yücel (1983-1992) * Prof. Dr. Neşet Çağatay (deputy) (1992-1993) * Prof. Dr. İbrahim Agah Çubukçu (deputy) (1993) * Prof. Dr. Yusuf Halaçoğlu (1993-2008) * Prof. Dr. Ali Birinci (2008-2011) * Prof. Dr. Bahaeddin Yediyıldız (deputy) (2011-2012) * Prof. Dr. Mehmet Metin Hülagü (2012-2014) * Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Beyhan (deputy) (2014-2015) * Prof. Dr. Refik Turan (2015-2020) * Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yaramış (2020-present)

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Historical societies History of the Republic of Turkey Organizations established in 1931 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Organizations based in Ankara Learned societies of Turkey Armenian genocide denial