Foundation and Activities of Safranbolu and Karabük People’s Houses
Safa Furkan KaracakayaWith the proclamation of the Republic in Türkiye, a rapid reform movement started and the education of the people was of great importance at the point of conveying and adopting these reforms to the public. Although the Turkish Hearths tried to take over this task in the first years of the Republic, because the Republican People’s Party wanted to carry out this work under its own control, the Turkish Hearths were closed and People’s Houses were established instead. People’s Houses served as the cultural branches of the Republican People’s Party and worked on issues such as increasing the education level of the people and adopting the reforms to the public. This study examines the establishment processes of People’s Houses in Karabük district and Safranbolu towns of Zonguldak province, to what extent these People’s Houses could fulfill the duties and responsibilities expected of them, and what kind of problems they faced during their period of activity.
Safranbolu ve Karabük Halkevlerinin Kuruluşu ve Faaliyetleri
Safa Furkan KaracakayaTürkiye’de, Cumhuriyetin ilanı ile birlikte hızlı bir inkılap hareketi başlamış ve bu inkılapların halka ulaştırılması ve benimsetilmesi noktasında halkın eğitimi büyük bir önem arz etmiştir. Cumhuriyetin ilk yıllarında bu görevi Türk Ocakları üstlenmeye çalışsa da Cumhuriyet Halk Fırkası’nın bu işi tamamen kendi kontrolü altında yürütmek istemesi nedeniyle Türk Ocakları kapatılmış ve onun yerine Halkevleri kurulmuştur. Halkevleri, CHF’nin kültür şubeleri olarak görev yapmış ve halkın eğitim seviyesinin artırılması, yapılan inkılapların halka benimsetilmesi gibi konularda faaliyet göstermiştir. Bu çalışmada Zonguldak vilayetine bağlı Karabük nahiyesi ve Safranbolu kasabalarındaki Halkevlerinin kuruluş süreçleri, bu Halkevlerinin kendilerinden beklenen görev ve sorumlulukları ne dereceye kadar yerine getirebildikleri ve ne gibi problemlerle karşılaştıkları tespit edilmeye çalışılmıştır.
People’s Houses were a popular subject in the written history the Turkish Republic since the late 20th century. Studies about these houses have focused mainly on the idea of populism and the People’s Houses that were found in the big cities. People’s Houses and the People’s Rooms in smaller towns gained relatively less attention. In this regard no study has been made about the People’s Houses in Safranbolu and Karabük. During the research on filling this gap, many documents related to them have been found in the Republican Archives. This article explains the activities of the People’s Houses and the People’s Rooms in smaller towns, their goals, and the problems they encountered using the distinctive examples of Karabük and Safranbolu.
The idea to establish People’s Houses was closely connected to the idea of explaining the reforms to the people. In this respect Atatürk himself gave speeches about the need for an organization to properly function as a cultural branch of the Republican People’s Party (RPP). Before the foundation of People’s Houses, the Turkish Hearths had been trying to carry out this mission. But some of the members of the Turkish Hearths were involved with the Free Republican Party’s propaganda. The suspicion against these members excited the idea of founding an organization connected directly to RPP. The Third Great Congress of the Republican People’s Party took place on May 10-18, 1931, during which the decision was made to establish People’s Houses in 14 city centers.
Atatürk and RPP used the People’s Houses to begin transmitting their ideas, changes, and reforms to the people more directly. As stated above, the main drive of this organization was to create a more understanding and loving society with a national consciousness. In this regard, a People’s House generally consisted of 9 sub-branches: Language, history, and literature; fine arts; theatre; sports; social assistance; public education; libraries and publications; peasantry; and museums and exhibition. For most of the People’s Houses, each of the sub branches operated efficiently in their field to achieve the abovementioned goals.
Between 1932 and 1950, 478 People’s Houses and 4,322 People’s Rooms had been opened. In this respect, the People’s House in Safranbolu was founded on July 24, 1932. The establishment had six branches. The first chairman of the People’s House in Safranbolu was Nuri Işıtan, and the managing board had seven members. The main activities of the People’s House of Safranbolu consisted of literacy courses; football and volleyball tournaments; giving briefings about raising animals, beekeeping, and new agriculture methods; and organizing theatre shows. People showed great interest, especially in the theatre shows and briefings. The most intriguing briefing was about parachuting.
The most important problem regarding the People’s House in Safranbolu was the construction of a new building. The activities of the People’s House were hindered greatly due to the lack of a proper building.
The foundation of Karabük in 1940 is directly related to the iron and steel plant located there. In 1944, the population of Karabük rose to nearly 6,000. The rapid growth of the town enabled the notables of the region to demand opening a People’s House. The most active branch of the People’s House of Karabük was the acting department. People extensively participated in the shows of the acting department. The most important problem at the People’s House in Karabük also involved the construction of a new building. Due to not having a building of its own, the People’s House in Karabük was not able to perform fully.
As stated above, People’s Houses were directly related to the Republican People’s Party, and after the elections in May 1950, the Democrat Party started viewing the People’s Houses as a threat to the party and decided to shut them all down.
