Perspectives of conservatives and leftist intellectuals to village institutes (1940-1970)

Village Institutes are educational institutions established for the village as the Education and Culture initiative. After the closure of these educational institutions established during the rule of İsmet İnönü, they became the target of criticism through various channels. In accordance with İsmet İnönü's political policies, new searches were made in education in 1940. Therefore, educational institutions have been regarded as the smallest unit of change since 1940. It was aimed to develop the village through the teachers sent to the village. However, with the start of the painful process of transition to multi-party life after 1946, these institutions became the target of criticism. The 'anticommunist' discourses that led to the closure of the Village Institutes increased in this process. Educational institutions are not considered independent of intellectuals who have witnessed the period. In this respect, the Village Institutes made it necessary to examine the mood, political and ideological dimensions of the period from the framework of intellectuals. In this context, it will be one of the main objectives to examine the perspectives of conservative and left intellectuals who witnessed the period between 1940-1970. Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Nejdet Sançar, Osman Yüksel Serdengeçti, Fethi Tevetoğlu, Peyami Safa and İlhan Darendelioğlu were among the conservative intellectuals who witnessed the period between 1940 and 1970. These conservative intellectuals chose to criticize the institutes based on anticommunist discourses. Accordingly, the dose of criticism of conservative intellectuals increased from time to time in magazines and books. Hasan Ali Yucel, Ismail Hakki Tonguc, Mehmet Basaran, Talip Apaydin, Sabahattin Eyupoglu, Hurrem Arman, Nadir Gezer, Rauf Inan, Abdullah Ozkucur, Mahmut Makal and Fakir Baykurt were among the leftist intellectuals who witnessed the period between 1940-1970. These intellectuals stated that the allegations against the Village Institutes and them were groundless. In this respect, the political conjuncture has had a noticeable effect on the allegations directed against institutes and leftist intellectuals. In this context, the leftist intellectuals have been accused of being communist by various sections during the period. For this reason, the leftist intellectuals have chosen to make their voices heard through the books, newspapers and magazines against the injustices they have experienced in the period between 1940-1970. Key Words: Village Institutes, Intellectual, Education, Leftist, Conservatism, Nationalism