Rauf Yektâ Bey's ideas, suggestions and impressions at the Arab Music Congress held in Cairo in 1932

The 1930s were years in Turkey when discussions about the state and future of Turkish music intensified. The 1930s were particularly a period of polemics centered around ideas such as harmonizing folk songs, archiving Turkish makam music anachronistically, and creating a national Turkish music in the Western sense. Additionally, it was a time when the Turkish music revolution gained visibility, and state policies played a decisive role in music. The intellectual foundation guiding these state policies was Ziya Gökalp's claim that Turkish makam music was derived from Arabic, Byzantine, and Persian sources, and that the true national Turkish music was the folk songs living in Anatolia. He even argued that the current state of Turkish folk music in Anatolia was insufficient and needed to be harmonized. These ideas and state music policies were debated for many years by musicians, politicians, and the public. The most prominent figure frequently appearing in these polemics and defending the current state of Turkish music was Rauf Yektâ Bey. While such discussions, works, and polemics were taking place in Turkey, a similar situation arose in Egypt, considered the pioneer of Arabic music. In this research, the views of Rauf Yektâ Bey and Mesut Cemil Bey, who participated as Turkish representatives in the Arabic Music Congress held in Cairo in 1932 to discuss the history, development, and future of Arabic music, their duties at the congress, and the reports they presented were translated from Arabic to Turkish and examined. Although it is known that Rauf Yektâ Bey participated in the Arabic Music Congress and this is superficially mentioned in academic publications, his views on the Cairo congress have not been thoroughly examined until now. This research, which explores and describes Yektâ Bey's views, suggestions, and impressions at this congress, holds great importance. Key Words: Rauf Yektâ Bey, Mesut Cemil Bey, Turkish Music, Arabic Music, Music.