Turkish Hearth Association
TURKISH HEARTH ASSOCIATION
Group formed to promote Turkish nationalism.
Toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, Ziya Gökalp and other Turkish intellectuals founded the Turkish Hearth Association (Türk Ocaği) in 1911 to promote nationalism, especially Gökalp's synthesis of Turkism, Islamism, and modernism. The association provided the Union and Progress political party with ideological direction. With government support, this private association sponsored nationalistic publications, speeches, sports, health, and economic development projects. By 1930, the association had 254 branches in cities and towns across Turkey. In 1931/32, the Republican People's party dissolved the association, took over its property, and established the People's Houses (Halk Evleri) in its place.
see also gÖkalp, ziya; people's houses.
Bibliography
Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 3d edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
paul j. magnarella