BEHİÇ ERKİN İLE GYULA NÉMETH ARASINDAKİ YAZIŞMALAR (1934-1949)

Abstract

Behiç Erkin corresponded with Gyula Németh, the famous Hungarian turcologist, where he was the minister in Hungary between 1928-1939. These correspondences, which began in 1934 and continued until the end of the 1940s, are kept in the Manuscripts Department of the National Széchenyi Library in Budapest. The relevant folder consists of 19 letters, business cards and postcards. It is understood that this contact, which initially included official contacts on professional issues, evolved into a friendship over time; So much so that these two people continued to write to each other despite the obstacles such as the Second World War and the Cold War. Following Erkin completed his diplomatic missions and returned to Turkey, the content of the correspondence took the form of New Year gratitudes. These correspondences are remarkable owing to the fact that they reflect the political and social atmosphere of the period and give clues about the turcology in Hungary. The correspondence emerged during the examination of the origins of Turkish history and language, which was an important pillar of the Turkish Cultural Revolution in the Early Republican Period, as Németh's area of expertise was in line with. The Turkish authorities were able to utilize the Hungarian scholar's knowledge to its utmost where the latter was very willing to share his professional experience. In this study, the correspondence between Behiç Erkin and Gyula Németh in the referred classification is completely given while the people and events mentioned in these correspondences, which are given in a chronological order, are explained and interpreted.