63 years of history comes to light at Atatürk University, which started with the idea of establishing a university in the East and after long investigations, which was decided to be established in Erzurum.

Archive works, which are among the works carried out within the scope of the New Generation University Design and Transformation Project, continue under the Corporate Communication Directorate (KID). Thousands of photographs, films, videos and document-type materials in the university library are examined, and archive work is transferred to digital media after classification and scanning.

Ataturk University Rector Prof. Dr Ömer Çomaklı stated that Atatürk University, which has made a significant contribution to the higher education of the country since the day it was founded, has started to work to uncover 63 years of history.

Rector Çomaklı, who stated that they plan to engage the second stage with the completion of the first stage of the archive work and that they plan to include the faculties, units and other stakeholders of the university in the archive work, said once again that they saw the importance of Atatürk University for their region after they started their archive studies.

The Dream of Establishing a University in the East

Rector Çomaklı, who stated that they often return to their foundation years after they started to reveal the documents on the dusty shelves of history, said: “It was President Celal Bayar who revived the idea of establishing a university in the East, which Mustafa Kemal Atatürk announced in 1937, 13 years later. When Bayar opened the Turkish Grand National Assembly on November 1, 1950, after repeating the section about Eastern University in Atatürk's speech in 1937, he gave the first good news of the steps to be taken stating that: “All difficulties should be on the lookout for the establishment of such a lore establishment in our eastern region, which is far behind other places in education and work should start in the next budget year. ”

Inspection Committee Goes For The Place To Be Founded

Çomaklı stated that the university project, which was shelved with the start of the Second World War, came to the agenda again. “By Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and with the encouragement and support of President Celal Bayar, at a time when there was a plan to open universities all over Turkey, Celal Bayar initiated a cultural development move. In this way, the first steps were taken to establish the University of the East. As a first step, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes has taken the issue into the government program with the words “The foundation of a university will be laid in the east”, preparations for the establishment were started and the first thing to be done was to determine the place where the university would be established.”

Çomaklı, who stated that the first 15-person delegation consisting of lecturers working in various universities went on a trip in the Eastern provinces in the summer of 1951 to determine the location of the university:'' The delegation of science arranged this excursion program according to the travel program of President Bayar, who would visit the Eastern provinces at the time. The delegation visited Diyarbakır, Elazig and Van together with the President. Although President Bayar completed his visits to the eastern region and returned to Ankara, the delegation continued their studies after passing to Erzurum. ”

Erzurum People Who Are Ready For All Kinds Of Sacrifice

Rector Çomaklı emphasized that Erzurum people, like every city and townspeople who saw the science committee in the face of their visits, claimed that the most suitable place for the establishment of the university was their own land and tried to prove them: In the face of the public's stance, the delegation of the science listened to what was happily told by surprise with their ears and eyes. The delegation made a decision as a result of the information provided by the local people in the places they visited and the examinations made by them. Accordingly, the scientific committee; After examining the East with various aspects such as physics, geography, climate, road, health status, energy source, he said that the delegation committee considered “Murat basin was the most suitable place for the university”.

Name of the University to be Established in the East: Atatürk University

Çomaklı, who shared the information that this situation gives Erzurum more advantages than other provinces in terms of the place where the university will be established since the Minister of National Education Rıfkı Salim Burçak was from Erzurum and the Democratic Party Government gave special importance to Erzurum. ''After determining the place to be established, it is time to determine the name of the higher education institution called “Eastern University”. Minister of National Education Rıfkı Salim Burçak and Undersecretary of the Ministry Reşat Tardu held a meeting on this issue. As a result, a consensus was reached on the fact that the name of Eastern University was “Atatürk University” with a joint decision. ”


It was first mentioned in the Turkish Grand National Assembly on November 1, 1953.

Rector Çomaklı: “The Minister of National Education Burçak explains briefly how they made the decision in the process of determining the name of the university:“ For the first time, it was Atatürk who first introduced the idea of opening a University in the East. ” In order to make this situation official, Minister of National Education Rıfkı Salim Burçak held a meeting with President Celal Bayar both on the decisions of the second delegation and the name of the university. The Minister of National Education told the President that they wanted to name Ataturk in the new university and that they should declare it themselves. Bayar welcomed this situation and after this meeting, the name “Atatürk University” was mentioned for the first time in the opening speech of the President of the Republic of Turkey on 1 November 1953 ”.

This Archive will Shed Light on the University's History

Underlining that the importance of Atatürk University will be understood once again in the light of this archive work, celebrating the 63rd anniversary of its foundation, Rector Prof. Dr Ömer Çomaklı stated that they have reached the documents of the studies and activities carried out since the foundation of the university until today, and the memory of the university of this archive, which has not been published anywhere until now.

Çomaklı mentioned that the foundation story was very impressive: “It is necessary to read this process over and over again to know what Atatürk University means for the city and its region. We also continue our efforts to better place the memories and unearth the archive of our university. After the archive work is completed, we will publish it on our university website and deliver it to everyone. He concluded his assessment by saying "Good work to all our members and citizens".

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE - 29.06.2020