Kazım Karabekı̇r’in Tarih Ve Müze Çalışmaları

Abstract

There are many names in the recent history of Turkey that are remembered, and one of them is Kazim Karabekir. Karabekir was not only active in the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic with his military achievements and activities, but also made a name for himself with his activities in the field of education in Eastern Anatolia during the National Struggle. Karabekir also took part in the political arena, serving as the leader of the Republic's first opposition party and as the president of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. In addition to all these military, educational and political identities, Karabekir has also left his mark in recent times with his identity as a "historian". In fact, his adventure with history, which he discovered in his primary school years and became interested in during his military service, continued after he retired in 1927 by combining it with his pen. As a man of ideas and ideals, Karabekir, who experienced a change of mind after entering civilian life, thought of the principle of maturing and sensitising his logic in his military struggles. Karabekir's historiographical adventure unfolds within the framework of events that he personally experienced and in which he took part in various positions and situations. His works and diaries, in which he tells part of his own life story, also contain direct information about the general political, military and social life and developments of the period. His other works, on the other hand, bear traces of more than a quarter of a century of Turkey's transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic. For this reason, Karabekir's works constitute one of the most important sources of recent Turkish history. In addition to his writings, Karabekir was also active in museology and museum education. This study examines the adventure of Kazim Karabekir, with history, as one of the leading commanders and statesmen of twentieth-century Turkey, from the Balkan Wars to Çanakkale, from Kut'ul Amare to the National Struggle. In this context, Kazim Karabekir's interest in history, his concept of history, his views on historiography, his works and his activities in the field of museology and museum education have been tried to be revealed and evaluated.