Sports and Recreation in the Modern Industrial Campuses of the Early Republican Turkey (1923-1945)

Abstract

In the early republican period of Turkey (1923-1945), the newly established state gave great significance to sports and recreational activities for social transformation and national progress. Accordingly, the new modernist and secular state developed physical training and sports policies in taking measures to develop the physical and mental health of Turkish citizens of all ages and to encourage the spread of sports among the masses. Sumerbank industrial campuses, which were state-owned properties in various towns, strongly exhibited the enactment of state policy and the spread of sports in industrial campuses since they had outstanding facilities for recreation and the physical training of employees. As such, this study is an inquiry into the role of sports in the modernization process of early republican Turkey - a promising mission of nation building. It sheds light on the modern campus and city life to explore the efficacy of sports in the overall design and use of campus spaces as remarkable signs of modernist alterations in the Turkish context. Through the reviewed literature and analysis, the study reveals that provision of sports facilities in industrial campuses was for transforming the society from traditional, rural, and agrarian into modern, secular, urban, and industrial.