İnönü embraces the legacy of Atatürk
Undertaking the patronage of Turkish Historical Society and the Turkish Language Association on 17 January 1939, President İsmet İnönü embraced the legacy of Atatürk.
The Association of the Study of Turkish Language (Türk Dili Tetkik Cemiyeti) was founded on 12 July 1932 with Samih Rifat as its first chairman. The name of the association was first changed to Turkish Language Studies Association (Türk Dili Araştırma Kurumu) in 1934 and to Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu) in 1936.
The Association of the Study of Turkish History (Türk Tarihi Tetkik Cemiyeti), on the other hand, was established on 15 April 1931. “Working under the patronage of Gazi Mustafa Kemal as a scientific association in Ankara,” according to the first paragraph of its bylaws, the objective of the institution was to study the history of Turkey and the Turks and to publicize the results through various means. The association opened a new window for the academic circles that had shown –with a few exceptions such as Fuad Köprülü– no interest in modern historiography or archaeology. In 1935, the name was changed to Turkish Historical Association (Türk Tarih Kurumu) and the institutions obtained globally-recognized results with the intense archaeological studies it conducted as of this date. After the National Library, the library of Turkish Historical Association is considered the most extensive in Turkey.
In 1983, Turkish Historical Association and Turkish Language Association came under the auspices of Atatürk High Institution of Culture, Language, and History. The income of both institutions is provided by 26 percent of the shares of ?? Bankası known as Atatürk Shares. Per Atatürk’s will, CHP represents these shares and the royalties are distributed evenly between the two institutions.
