@article{2015,title={SCHOLAR MEHMED FUAD KOPRULU (1890–1966): FOUNDER OF ACADEMIC HISTORIOGRAPHY AND NATIONAL HISTORY THEORY IN TURKEY},abstractNode={Fuat Köprülü is one of the few people who are the highlights of Turkish historiography. He deserves a distinguished position in the Turkish historiography with his carefully chosen subjects of Turkish History, his style of discussing subjects chosen as well as ability to get to the bottom of matters and his precise perception of the society’s mind set. The founders of the Republic had to “marginalize” the Ottoman Empire, which they replaced, as a requirement to intensify and justify their power. This requirement can explain, up to a certain degree, the official history approach’s need for Turks to embrace their origins in the Middle Asia and to seek ancestors among the most ancient civilizations in Anatolia. The Kemalist history thesis followed its path but did not choose to prevent developments in history researches that deviate from the official thesis. The official history thesis dominated the secondary education through course books whereas Fuad Köprülü established his theory and walked down a different path with his students. This study discusses foundation of Köprülü’s National History Theory and the theory’s contribution to modernization of Turkish History Approach. There are two priorities that guided the direction of Köprülü’s history studies. The first one is the identity of Turks and their cultural structure; the second one is to follow a path that complies with scientific norms. In his work “Başka Milletler Ne Yapıyor?” presumably written between the years of 1914 and 1918, Köprülü explained his concerns. In his opinion, our century is the reign of nationality; being a nationalist is a negative perception. A person should initially know one’s nationality, in other words, one’s history, geography, sociology, language and literature, in order to become a libertarian. The prime manifestation of this approach would be the Balkan nations which effectively used historical proofs in order to expand their countries. Köprülü followed the footsteps of these two priorities that guided his history studies throughout his life. He researched on these concerns on his life; he did researches on Turkish history, culture, Islam civilization, Islam religion and Islamic mysticism. These studies of Köprülü marked a new era in the Turkish historiography. They guided the modernization of Turkish history studies. Köprülü not only marked a new era with his history studies but also created a theory that set an example to his successors. Thanks to Köprülü’s role},author={Fatih M. DERVİŞOĞLU},year={2015},journal={The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies}}