Highway and railway construction activities in Atatürk Period in Turkey (1923-1938)

The new Turkish State established after winning the independence war under the leadership of Atatürk has aimed to improve the welfare of the people that have exhausted because of the wars and to reconstruct the country, which has been desolated. The administrators of Turkish Republic have realized the transportation as the most important problem of the country that had to be solved depending on their distressing experiences and the necessities of the age. In this respect a great construction endeavour has been initiated in terms of highways and railways between 1923 and 1938.In the Ottoman period the country, which had not had a regular high way network due to the reasons such as the economic and political ones and to the destruction of the wars, has started to be railroaded. They have aimed not to leave any place inaccessible by means of the works on the highways integrated to the railways.Between the years of 1923 and 1938 the country has became a construction site from the west to the east and from the north to the south. Serious endeavour?s have been implemented on land transportation by the constructions on the highways and railways. By the help of these construction efforts on land transportation the inner cities of the country have been connected to the port cities and the cities, the towns and even the villages have also became integrated to each other by the highways and the railways. These works have contributed to the social, political and economic development of the country and have became a reason for proud fort he new Turkish State on every platform.Keywords: Turkish Republic, M. Kemal Atatürk, Land Transportation, Railways, Highways, Bridge Constructions, Construction Activities?