Halkevleri (English: People’s houses) is a name of a former Turkish state sponsored project, between 1932-1951.
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Turkish Republic was proclaimed in 1923 after a serial of wars involving the Ottoman Empire. The wars were very costly. The human loss was great, especially among the intellectuals. Also, the most profitable agricultural land had been lost and the country was economically bankrupt. After the republic was proclaimed, measures were taken to raise the low literacy rate and to improve the economy. However, the great depression was another blow to the new republic. A second problem of the new republic was the reaction of the conservatives against the reforms, especially the secularist practices of the republic.
Halkevleri was an enlightenment project aimed towards city dwellers to gain support for reforms. It was planned by Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkey.
On Feb. 17,1932 , branches of Halkevleri were openned in 17 cities. (Adana, Ankara, Bolu, Bursa, Çanakkale, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, İstanbul, İzmir, Konya, Malatya and Samsun.) But soon, the number increased to 478 . Towards 1940, the villages were also included in the project. The sub branches in villages were called Halkodaları (English: People’s rooms) Towards 1950, the total number of these subsections exceeded 4000.
The purpose of the project was to enlighten the people and to decrease the influences of the conservative circles. Free courses were offered on the topics of literature, drama, music, fine arts, speaking, and writing as well as handicrafts and tailoring. Folksay and folksongs were surveyed. Halkevleri also had 761 libraries and reading rooms.[1]
During multiparty period (after 1945) Halkevleri were severely criticized on the ground that this project was a supporter of the governing Republican People’s Party.[2] The opposing Democrat Party won the 1950 elections. On the Aug. 8, 1951 Halkevleri were closed.[3]