The number of students studying in other countries has increased significantly over the years. In 1950 there were 341 students enrolled overseas, whereas in 1964, the number rose to 2,825; West Germany (1,404) and the United States (1,070) trained the greatest proportion of these students. During 1964, the fields of study were Medicine (1,040), Engineering (605), Social Sciences (497), Humanities (215), Agriculture (151), Natural Sciences (168), Education (70), Law (65), and Fine Arts (14). Only 429 of the 2,825 studying overseas in 1964 were female.

University students gained some measure of recognition in 1960 when they led demonstrations against the Menderes government. Before the students had demonstrated only sporadically to protest an extreme newspaper or on such occasions as the 1955 disturbances in Istanbul during the London talks on Cyprus. Turkish family life does not permit a great deal of independence to students, and in the past students have usually waited until after graduation to work for change within the system. Even in 1960 the student revolts came after public opinion had turned against the government.

In 1946 universities were given academic and administrative autonomy and allowed to elect their own rectors and officials. In 1953 the Menderes government responded to growing university criticism of the government by restricting university authority over budgets, and subjecting professors (who are civil servants) to compulsory retirement at government option after 25 years. During the rest of that decade several professors were suspended or not promoted for their opposition to the government so that in 1960 the universities were openly against the government. The National Unity Committee issued a new law on university autonomy through which universities have the independence guaranteed by the Law of 1946 and professors are allowed to participate in politics.

Educational Finance

Turkey allocates about 10 percent of its national budget to education, second only to the amount spent for defense. In 1967 the Turkish Government increased the education budget 50.5 million pounds to a total of 2.6 billion pounds. This is a 2-percent increase over 1966 and represents 3.9 percent of the gross national income. Most expenditures are borne by the central government, which is responsible for everything from salaries to school construction. Maintenance and salaries of service personnel are met with village and provincial funds.

No tuition is charged students in primary and secondary schools, and very small fees are charged to university students. Some

scholarships are available through competitive examination to cover maintenance. All students receive discounts on public transportation and in most cinemas and other places of entertainment. Several thousand Turkish students are studying abroad, many with the aid of the government scholarships earmarked by the State Planning Organization. Turkey has also received some foreign students and visiting professors, and since 1961 has had several hundred American Peace Corps Volunteers teaching in various branches of the school system.

Nevertheless, funds for education are in short supply, and the Educational Council has suggested charging a small tuition. The council also called for encouragement of voluntary contribution from individuals and organizations within the country.

When the National Educational Council met in 1962, 50 percent of its members agreed that the present system was not adequate. Thirty-five percent stated that the first-cycle secondary general and vocational schools should be dropped and recommended the adoption of comprehensive schools with required and elective courses. These considerations were included in the Second 5-Year Plan, and the government has recommitted itself to the encouragement of education.

CHAPTER 10

ARTISTIC AND INTELLECTUAL EXPRESSION

Turkish culture, rooted in Central Asia and nurtured in Asia Minor, developed in form and expression according to the nation's political, social, and geographic evolution. Artistic and intellectual expression reflected the values and philosophy of the elite to which it was directed. The sources of inspiration changed over the centuries, sometimes being predominantly nationalistic, sometimes eclectic, at other times religious. The indigenous Anatolian folklore, for example was both provincial and secular whereas Ottoman culture was a synthesis of Turkish, Persian, Arab, and Balkan cultural elements in an Islamic context.

Until the 19th century Turkish culture, particularly architecture and graphic arts, was heavily influenced by Islam. Drama and literature, basically religious in theme, were available to the rich, the educated, and those favored by the ruling elite. Poetry, which flourished, best represented the synthesis in style and content of Turkish, Arabic and Persian influences within an Islamic framework. Artistic and cultural expression reached its zenith during the reign of Süleyman I, the Magnificent (1520-66).

Nationalism has dominated all forms of artistic and cultural expression-painting, drama, music and literature since the ascendance of Western influence in the 19th century. Whether oriented toward political change, as was the Young Turk literature of the early 20th century, or toward social reform, as has been the literature since the 1940's, all cultural expression has sought inspiration from the rich Anatolian folklore which originated among Turkic immigrants of Central Asia before the 10th century and was preserved in the oral tradition of these peasants. Writers, artists and musicians cast off centuries of Perso-Arabic influence by returning to the vernacular in literature, village scenes in painting, and folk ballads in music.

The development of nationalism coincided with the westernization of cultural, social, scientific and political life. Western civilization introduced the informal essay, novel, and short story to a nation which previously had read only poetry. Using the new Western literary forms, writers such as Namik Kamal not only interpreted European social and political values, but also extolled

a distinct Turkish culture. Newspapers, by publishing essays in serial form, contributed to the spread of nationalism. The Tanzimat reforms (1839-76), by discouraging Arabic, encouraged the use of Turkish in modern literature, secular learning, and modern government (see ch. 3, Historical Setting).

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk channeled the nationalism evinced in literature into a political context. Western rationalism and empiricism dominated national culture after the separation of religion and state in 1923. The rejection of the Islamic ban on representing human and animal figures encouraged artistic expression. Finally, substitution of the Latin alphabet for the Arabic script under Atatürk gave impetus to literary output, enabled more people to read and understand it, and extended the nationalist emphasis. The government since the founding of the First Republic in 1923 has supported cultural programs with nationalist themes. Halk Evis, or People's Houses, were established in 1931 to disseminate general culture to all citizens. The buildings, equipped with libraries, classrooms, and lecture halls, provided free music, lectures, and training in music and painting. These state-sponsored People's Houses were dissolved by the new government in 1950 and placed at the provincial governor's disposal. Only one in Ankara became a library. The government replaced the People's Houses in 1953 with Popular Education Centers for lectures, plays, concerts and exhibits. The state also maintains two national theater companies, two symphony orchestras, numerous museums and libraries, and a conservatory for drama, music, dance and art training.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The country underwent a pre-Ottoman and Ottoman period before entering its modern phase, a result of Westernization in the 19th century. Turkic tribes who migrated to Anatolia from Central Asia contributed the language, ballads, and folk music to which 20-century artists are returning for inspiration. Hittite, Greek and Roman civilizations also influenced pre-Ottoman culture.

Turkey under Islam drew from Persian and Arabic cultural expression. The subject matter of art miniatures, calligraphy, and poetry were all directed toward the state religion or the sultan. Some of the more famous Ottoman miniatures, for example, depict royal hunting scenes. The Ottoman Empire encouraged poetry and prose. Ahmed III (reigned 1703-17), sultan during the Tulip Era (Lale Devri), was himself an artist, art patron and poet. Nedim, among the best poets in Turkish literature, was a frequent court guest under Ahmed III. Many sultans, in accordance with the traditional Ottoman reverence for books, built libraries and museums.

After the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-74 Asia Minor came in closer contact with Europe and received the continent's attention in turn. Military schools with European instructors, study abroad, and the printing press also contributed to the growth of a Western orientation. During the Tulip Era, European works on medicine, science and literature were translated; French design influenced an interest in small fountains and houses rather than in elaborate mosques. European musicians performed at the court of Mahmud II (d. 1839), and the first newspaper in the Islamic world, Waga' al-Misriya, appeared in Turkey in 1828.

Many 19th-century intellectuals studied abroad. On return they initially divided into the Westerners who desired a multinational state dominated by Ottomanism and Islam, and nationalists who campaigned for political reform based on Turkish national character and the separation of religion and state. Ziya Gokalp, foremost among the nationalists, advocated that the Empire's oriental character be replaced by the real Turkish folk culture, Western values, and language reform. After World War I brought about dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, the Western movement subsided. Mustafa Kemal adopted the nationalist ideology to carry out the Republican revolution of 1923.

Post-revolutionary intellectual and scientific activity focused not only on the political and social problems of the changing times, but addressed itself increasingly to the country's rich heritage of archaeology and history. There was a revival of interest in Islamic scholarship, concerned with examining the Turkish contribution to the wider world of Islam. Growth of the university system after World War II provided stimulation and a widening base for intellectual and scientific activity. Because of the political implications, economic and social research, except in agriculture and the basic sciences, has not flourished (see ch. 9, Education; ch. 16, Public Information).

POETRY AND PROSE

Until the 19th century poetry was the predominant mode of literary expression. Folk poetry, collections of divan poems in the classical form, and mystic verse existed side by side, intermingling in the last century and finally expiring. The earliest literary works were largely unwritten legends passed down from Central Asian Turkic tribes; this folk poetry, usually allegorical, had definite rhythm and verse patterns. The most famous folk philosopher-humorist, Nasredden Hodja, was born in a small village in 1208. He left a legacy of stories and wit still popular in Anatolian folklore.

Divan, or classical Islamic literature, was modelled, beginning