The Institute of Turkish Revolution History (TITE) is a research and education center established on April 15, 1942, by Law No. 4204, for the purpose of examining the revolutionary movements under the leadership of Atatürk in a contemporary manner and teaching them to young generations.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, accomplished radical revolutionary movements in every field to bring society to the level of contemporary civilizations after the declaration of the Republic of Turkey. It is a fact that Atatürk, who aimed to create the intellectual and cultural foundations that would ensure the continuity of the great historical transformation, focused on “national history” and “national language” studies in accordance with the ideology of the new state, along with education. The Institute of Turkish Revolution History, which started its work in line with these purposes, started to collect many archival documents, books and items related to the history of modern Turkey despite the difficult conditions of the World War II, and laid the foundations of the library and archive it has today.
In addition to president İsmet İnönü, Minister of National Education Hasan Âli Yücel, who is one of the important figures of the period, also took a special interest in the establishment of the Institute and stated the importance he gave to this institution after its establishment, during a speech on 7 November 1942, “Like the Turkish revolution, the Institute of Turkish Revolution History is also the property and honor of the Turkish nation.”
In addition to the goals clarified in its establishment, in line with its new status determined in 1982, the Institute of Turkish Revolution History conducts master’s and doctoral programs and the coordinator of the Atatürk Principles and Revolution History course, which is compulsory at the undergraduate level at Ankara University. The aim of the graduate education carried out in the Department of Ataturk’s Principles and History of Revolution and the Department of Balkan Studies affiliated to the Institute of Turkish Revolution History is to ensure that students gain the ability to access, evaluate and interpret information by conducting scientific research. The aim of doctoral education is to provide the student with the skills and ability to conduct independent research, interpret scientific events by examining them from a broad and deep perspective, and apply the necessary scientific methods to reach new syntheses.
The Institute of Turkish Revolution History, which serves researchers at all levels with its archives and library as well as its education activities, also directly contributes to studies aimed at informing society with its Revolutionary History Museum. The Institute’s library contains nearly 10,000 books and the archive of the institute contains approximately 100,000 digital documents, many photographs and stamps, and some newspaper collections.