İzmir Metropolitan Municipality organized a panel on the 83rd anniversary of the opening of Village Institutes. Unveiling the statue of Hasan Ali Yücel, the architect of the Village Institutes, after the panel, Mayor Soyer said, “We are establishing an agriculture school, inspired by the Village Institutes philosophy. We are taking the first step to spread the spirit of Village Institutes from Bademler Village to Anatolia.”
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality organized a panel titled “The Spark in the Steppe - Village Institutes and Hasan Ali Yücel” on the 83rd anniversary of the opening of the Village Institutes, the biggest breakthrough in Turkey's enlightenment. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor attended the panel organized by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality City Archive, Museums and Libraries Branch Directorate at the National Library. Tunç Soyer, Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Yüksel Taşkın, Konak Mayor Abdül Batur, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Barış Karcı, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality National Holidays Committee Chairman Atty. Ulvi Puğ, academics, graduates and educators of Village Institutes and many citizens attended.
Village Institutes were sacrificed to multi-party political life
In the panel, Prof. from Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Letters, Department of History. Dr. Hakkı Uyar gave information about the opening of the Village Institutes, the conjuncture of the period and the closing process. prof. Dr. Hakkı Uyar explained the role of the then Minister of National Education Hasan Ali Yücel, the architect of the Village Institutes, in the process and said, “Village Institutes were institutions that provided Turkey's own salvation without the need for a savior. "Unfortunately, he was sacrificed to the multi-party political life," he said.
“One of the biggest misfortunes to be closed”
Chairman after the panel Tunç Soyeropened the Hasan Ali Yücel statue designed by Yücel Tonguç Sercan, one of the sculptors of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Culture and Art Branch Directorate, in front of the National Library Foundation building. Speaking at the opening, President Soyer said, “Village Institutes were an extremely important step for the enlightenment of Anatolia in the history of the Republic of Turkey. Sometimes criticism comes to us saying 'why are you making sculptures'. We live in such an age of speed that unfortunately this age of speed makes us forget our roots and past. The closure of the Village Institutes, which is the enlightenment movement of Anatolia, is perhaps one of the greatest misfortunes of these lands.
“We are opening an agricultural school with the spirit of the Village Institute”
Noting that as Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, they will do their best to keep this legacy alive, Mayor Soyer said: “We are opening an agricultural school in Bademler Village, completely inspired by the philosophy of Village Institutes. We are taking the first step to spread the spirit of Village Institutes, the light it gives to Anatolia, from Bademler Village to İzmir and Anatolia by realizing its application examples. Our school, where 350 students will be educated, has a curriculum prepared entirely in the spirit of Village Institutes. We are able to build a completely different future on this legacy.”