Institute of Turkish Studies

The Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS) is a United States-based nonprofit educational foundation established in 1982 to advance the study of Turkey and the Ottoman world in American colleges and universities. Its activities have included grants and fellowships for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, support for university programs and library resources, sponsorship of scholarly conferences and workshops, and assistance for books and other publications concerning Turkish history, culture, politics, society, and economics. The institute was created with a reported $3 million grant from the Turkish government during a period when Ankara was supporting Turkish-studies chairs, research centers, and related academic infrastructure at major American universities. ITS was housed at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and operated as a private educational foundation rather than as a commercial business. Its early executive director was Heath W. Lowry, who later held the Atatürk Chair of Turkish Studies at Princeton University, a position financed by the Turkish government. The foundation’s stated mission was broad. It sought to support advanced research on Ottoman and modern Turkish history, language, and culture, as well as contemporary Turkish political, social, and economic developments. It also aimed to help universities build collections and teaching programs, encourage scholarly publication, and promote public understanding through lectures and conferences. Since 1983, its grant program supported individuals and institutions working in Turkish studies, with applications reviewed by committees associated with its board and academic membership. ITS also helped underwrite or publish books on subjects including Ottoman architecture, state formation, law and gender, political mobilization, modernism, imperialism, Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire, folklore, literature, and Ottoman economic and social history. These publications connected the institute to a broad international academic network, even though its principal institutional focus was American higher education. The institute became controversial because critics questioned whether its financial dependence on Turkish state-related funds compromised academic independence. Observers argued that some scholars associated with the institute or with Turkish-funded academic programs challenged recognition of the Armenian genocide and avoided or contested other politically sensitive subjects, including the situation of the Kurds in Turkey. The debate intensified after Donald Quataert, a former chair of the institute’s board, said that he had been pressured by Turkey’s ambassador to retract a review in which he characterized the Armenian case as meeting the United Nations definition of genocide. Quataert resigned as board chair in December 2006 after refusing to retract the review, according to accounts cited in reference material. In late 2015, the Turkish government unexpectedly announced that it would end its funding for the institute. The decision raised questions about ITS’s financial sustainability and future operations. Publicly available reference material does not establish the institute’s current operating status, leadership, funding position, or whether its programs continue at their former scale. It is therefore best understood as an academic-support institution with a significant historical role in Turkish studies in the United States, rather than as a conventional consumer-facing brand.

The Institute of Turkish Studies was established in 1982 as a private, nonprofit educational foundation in the United States. Its creation formed part of a wider effort by the Turkish government to strengthen the institutional study of Turkey at American universities. The institute reportedly began with a $3 million grant from Turkey and was based in Washington, D.C., where it was housed at Georgetown University. ITS defined its role as supporting Turkish studies in American higher education. Its program covered Ottoman and modern Turkish history, language and culture, and contemporary political, social, and economic affairs. Rather than operating as a degree-granting university, it distributed support to scholars and institutions. Beginning in 1983, it sponsored an annual grants program for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, colleges, and universities. Grant decisions were reviewed through committees connected to its board of governors and associate members. The institute also helped universities develop library holdings, courses, research programs, conferences, and outreach activities. Its publication support extended to works on Ottoman architecture, literature, folklore, political movements, state centralization, modernization, gender and law, Jewish communities, and Ottoman relations with Europe and the Middle East. These activities gave ITS a role as a convenor and sponsor within the academic field, rather than simply as a scholarship provider. Funding became central to discussions of the institute’s independence. In a 1998 account, the institute’s treasurer stated that most of its income came from a trust administered by ITS. Donald Quataert later said that the trust could be revoked by the Turkish government, contrary to the assumption that it was irrevocable. This financial structure contributed to criticism that the institute could be vulnerable to government influence. The most prominent controversy concerned the treatment of the Armenian genocide and other politically sensitive subjects. Several scholars associated with the institute or with Turkish-funded academic chairs opposed defining the 1915 Armenian events as genocide. In 1985, Heath W. Lowry was reported to have helped organize a letter signed by 69 academics opposing recognition of the Armenian genocide. Critics described such activity as part of a broader effort to shape historical interpretation in line with official Turkish positions. Additional concerns involved access to Turkish archives and the treatment of scholarship concerning Kurdish conditions. The controversy reached the institute’s governance directly in the 2000s. Donald Quataert, a historian at the State University of New York at Binghamton, served as chair of the board from 2001 until December 2006. He said that Turkey’s ambassador, Nabi Şensoy, demanded that he retract a book review containing his assessment that the Armenian case met the United Nations definition of genocide, or resign while placing the institute’s funding at risk. Quataert refused to retract the review and left the chairmanship. Other board and associate members were also reported to have departed amid the dispute. In late 2015, the Turkish government announced that it would terminate all funding for ITS. The announcement represented a major break in the financial relationship that had shaped the institute since its foundation. The available reference material does not provide a reliable account of the institute’s subsequent finances, leadership, program activity, or legal status. Accordingly, its present condition remains uncertain. Historically, however, ITS was an important but contested intermediary between Turkish state-supported cultural diplomacy and the academic study of Turkey in the United States.

• 2015

  Turkish funding announced for termination

  [1]Institute of Turkish Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  The Turkish government announced that it would cut all funding to the institute, placing its future financial model in question.

• 2006

  Quataert leaves board chairmanship

  [1]Institute of Turkish Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  Quataert resigned in December after a dispute involving pressure to retract his characterization of the Armenian events as genocide.

• 2001

  Donald Quataert becomes board chairman

  [1]Institute of Turkish Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  Historian Donald Quataert began serving as chairman of the institute’s board of governors.

• 1985

  Letter opposing Armenian genocide recognition

  [1]Institute of Turkish Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  Heath W. Lowry was reported to have helped organize a letter signed by 69 academics opposing recognition of the Armenian genocide.

• 1983

  Annual grant program begins

  [1]Institute of Turkish Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  ITS began sponsoring recurring grants for scholars, graduate researchers, postdoctoral researchers, and American educational institutions working in Turkish studies.

• 1982

  Institute established

  [1]Institute of Turkish Studiesen.wikipedia.org

  The Institute of Turkish Studies was founded in the United States as a private nonprofit educational foundation with a reported $3 million grant from the Turkish government.

A specialist academic foundation positioned as an institutional supporter of Turkish, Ottoman, and related Middle Eastern studies in American higher education. Its public identity combined scholarly funding and convening with the promotion of broader understanding of Turkey, while its reliance on Turkish government-related funding generated continuing questions about independence and influence.

• Academic funding · 1983

  Annual Grants Program

  The institute’s principal recurring service was a grant program supporting research and scholarship in Turkish studies. Awards were directed to graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, universities, and other educational institutions, with subject coverage spanning Ottoman and modern Turkish studies.

• Higher-education support · 1982

  Institutional and Program Support

  ITS assisted American universities with Turkish-studies resources, including library development, programs of study, scholarly meetings, workshops, and outreach. This work was intended to strengthen the infrastructure through which Turkey and the Ottoman world were taught and researched.

• Academic publishing

  Publication Support

  The institute supported books and related scholarly publications on Ottoman and Turkish history, architecture, politics, literature, religion, society, and culture, often in cooperation with university presses or specialist publishers.

• 2006

  Donald Quataert funding and retraction dispute

  Donald Quataert said he was pressured by Turkey’s ambassador to retract a review that stated the Armenian events met the United Nations definition of genocide. He refused and resigned as board chairman, while reporting indicated that the institute’s funding was at issue.

  Source

• 1997

  Concerns over access to archives and Turkish-funded chairs

  Debate over Turkish government influence in academic research included reports that the University of California, Los Angeles, returned a $1 million Turkish grant for an Ottoman studies chair after concerns arose about restrictions on archival research related to the Armenian genocide.

  Source

• 1985

  Academic advocacy against Armenian genocide recognition

  Critics linked scholars associated with ITS to efforts opposing formal recognition of the Armenian genocide, including a 1985 letter reportedly organized with the involvement of Heath W. Lowry and signed by 69 academics.

  Source

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• 2015

  Termination of Turkish government fundingStrategy

  Background

  The institute had historically relied heavily on funds connected to a Turkish government-associated trust, making the relationship important to its operating model and raising questions about institutional independence.

  Action taken

  The Turkish government announced that it would cut all funding to the Institute of Turkish Studies.

  Aftermath

  The announcement created uncertainty about the institute’s financial sustainability and subsequent operations. The available reference material does not establish its later status.

  Source

1. 1Institute of Turkish Studiesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Institute of Turkish Studies official websiteturkishstudies.org