It is almost impossible to be impartial when it comes to history. Historiography will affect how the information we trace is handled and reflected. The history of psychology in Turkey also takes its share from this situation, and when we look at the literature, we come across few but different historiographies. In this article, I will try to follow the traces of the development of psychology as a science in Turkey and understand its relationship with the social and political events of the period.
We can say that the roots of psychology in our geography date back to the Ottoman Empire. It is known that the first psychology lessons called "Emcaz u Ekalim" were given by Aziz Efendi in public areas during Ramadan. These lessons predate the opening of Darülfünun-i Osmani in 1869. At that time, in the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was trying to create a nation-state model and to integrate the surrounding Muslim and non-Muslim people. Although the content of the lessons given by Aziz Efendi is not known exactly, it can be guessed with the help of the conditions of the period and etymology. "Ekalim" means region, hometown, and "Emcaz" means temperament and habit. Considering these, it can be claimed that these lessons served as a tool for the Ottoman effort to integrate the peoples. When we go further, we see that the term psychology was used by Hoca Tahsin in his book titled Psychology Yahut İlmi Ahvali Ruh in 1872. In this book, Hodja Tahsin tries to break the link between the spirit and Islamic interpretations. While Wilhelm Wundt published his work titled Principles of Physiological Psychology in Germany in 1874, Yusuf Kemal published Gayet-ül Beyan Fi Hakikat-ül-İnsan Yahut İlm-i Ahval-i Ruh in 1876.
20 . Until the middle of the century, psychology was the area of interest only for Ottoman intellectuals. Because until this time, the Ottoman state promoted Islamic teachings in public education and opposed all kinds of secular moves.2 Despite this, there were institutions providing higher education in the 19th century. However, they only teach courses that are thought to be functional, such as religion, law and agriculture. Because of wars and poverty, very few people can go to these schools. In other words, the level of education in the Ottoman Empire at that time was very low and there was not much room for science and progress.
In later times, Turkey It is accepted that modern psychology began with the arrival of Georg Anschütz to our country in 1915. Anschütz is sent by Germany to the academy here as an intervention and starts teaching at Darülfünun. At that time, the Ottoman Empire was in World War I with Germany. Under the influence of Germany, psychology is introduced as an experimental science in academic circles. However, due to the war, only nine students could graduate from the experimental psychology program. After the war ended, German psychologists left and the psychology department at Darülfünun was maintained by Mustafa Şekip Tunç until 1933. In 1933, Darülfunun became Istanbul University and second wave German psychologists were invited. Because at that time, German psychologists were running away from the rising Nazi regime in Germany. Wilhelm Peters establishes the first experimental psychology laboratory in our country, and both experimental psychology and Gestalt psychology courses are given at the university. Despite this, the science of psychology does not attract attention. Because religious education and its restrictions on mind and consciousness still continue.4 After 1950, Turkey turns to America and hosts faculty members from America. German experimental psychology books are being destroyed and replaced by American books. European influences on psychology are beginning to fade. In a short time, American modern psychology replaces German experimental psychology. In 1964, the second department of psychology was opened at Hacettepe University, and over time it began to be opened at other universities.3
The relatively slow and difficult development of psychology in Turkey can be attributed to two factors: first, the development of the science of psychology parallels industrialization and urbanization. and neither of them have fully emerged in Turkey. The second is the obstruction of progressive movements in science and universities due to religion, culture and wars. Based on this, it can be said that the development of psychology in Turkey has always been dependent on political and social events. This short story shows us that the path of psychological science was drawn in line with the needs of the period and the governments, and it is not possible for psychology to be independent from other elements in history. ;
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