Physical policies and sports in the Early Republican period

Sports are more effective in human life than thought. The dynamics of sports and its relationship with society have a decisive role in human life. The impact of sports on social life should be evaluated in terms of its relationship with the government. Because governments consider sports as a tool. Using sports as a means to achieve a goal makes sports more complicated than it is. Therefore, at this point, it is necessary to analyze the relationship between sports and authority well. On the other hand, since sports is an activity that people perform physically, it is also the subject of body studies. It is seen that the Republic of Turkey has been trying to transform society mentally and physically since its establishment. This transformation manifests itself in the field of sports as well as in every aspect of society. It can be seen that the bureaucrats of the early period of the Republic of Turkey tried to put the citizens' bodies into a desired form by using sports. In this way, the population, which is the most fundamental factor of development, would be increased both quantitatively and qualitatively. For this reason, bureaucrats have shown great interest in the bodies of citizens since the founding of the Republic of Turkey and wanted to shape these bodies through sports and in line with the demands of the government. Therefore, an area that needs to be examined sociologically has emerged between body, sports and politics. This study examines the relationship between sports, body and politics in the early period of the Republic of Turkey. While discussing this relationship, theses, articles, books and newspaper articles of the period were consulted. In this respect, the study also includes sources that have not been cited before. The relationship between sports, body and politics in the early periods of the Turkish Republic has a rich network of knowledge. Therefore, the study is important in terms of illuminating the intertwined relations of sport, body and politics.