Abstract: The Turkish Language Reform is one of the most fascinating cultural projects of the first half of the 20th century. Throughout the 1920s, numerous distinguished linguists from Hungary, Soviet Russia and Poland visited the University of Istanbul and maintained close contacts with Turkish academia. Mészaros Gyula, Wilhelm Barthold and Süreyya Szapszal were important inspirers, commentators […]

Abstract: The Ottoman Empire was a fundamentally multilingual society. In the course of the late Ottoman and early Republican period, certain policies, rules and practices were introduced in order to influence the linguistic situation and to establish the dominant language in the society, without a perspective for maintaining its linguistic diversity. In this talk Dr. […]

Abstract: Like Yusuf Akçura, Abdullah Battal-Taymas and other intellectuals of Tatar origin, Sadri Maksudi Arsal (1879–1957) from Kazan played an important role for the construction and development of the Turkish Republic. He met Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and made important contributions to the Kemalist reforms of law, politics, history and language. His role in the Turkish […]