The story
TÜBİTAK was established by President Cemal Gürsel, who initially formed a scientific council in 1960 to advise the Ministry of Defense. This effort paralleled the creation of a separate scientific law council tasked with drafting the new constitution of the Turkish Republic. President Gürsel later expanded this initiative by founding the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey as a broader continuation of the Ministry of Defense's Scientific Council. The primary role of TÜBİTAK was to guide the government's plans and policies.
Subsequently, the bill "278" passed on July 24, 1963, in the new era of planned economy subsequent to the first five-year development plan of the country, set the official record for the council's presence and duties. Cahit Arf, who was appointed by Gursel as the founding director and whose leading foundation work was assisted by a group of scientists including Erdal İnönü, was subsequently named as the first chairman of the Council on December 26, 1963. The council's first ten members were professors Erdal İnönü, Ratip Berker, Hikmet Binark, Mecit Çağatay, Reşat Garan, Feza Gürsey, Orhan Işık, Mustafa İnan, Atıf Şengün and İhsan Topaloğlu. They nominated Nimet Özdaş as the first secretary general of TÜBİTAK effective March 1, 1964.
At that time of its establishment, TÜBİTAK's primary tasks at the time were supporting basic and applied academic research and encouraging careers in science by providing incentives to young researchers, in particular to those working in natural sciences. To carry out these tasks, four research grant committees were set up to fund projects in the areas of basic sciences, engineering, medicine, agriculture and animal husbandry. The number now stands at ten and also includes one assigned to social sciences and humanities, all functioning under the Research Support Programmes Department. A separate “Scientist Training Group”, also set up at the time to orient promising students towards scientific careers and help their advancement thereafter, has now evolved into the present Science Fellowships and Grant Programmes Division.
TÜBİTAK was involved in a major scandal in 2009, when then vice-president Ömer Ziya Cebeci censored the March 2009 issue of the popular science magazine Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology) on religious grounds, and sacked its editor. This caused protests across the country, in particular among university students, —as well as widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, including from both the opposition as well as the AKP government. Court proceedings regarding the incident concluded in 2013 that the sacking of the journal's editor by Ömer Ziya Cebeci and his superior Nüket Yetiş was illegal.
Media related to Protests at the Middle Eastern Technical University demanding the resignation of Ömer Ziya Cebeci and Nüket Yetiş. (March 13, 2009) at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to Ömer Ziya Cebeci at Wikimedia Commons
From Wikipedia’s article on Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4