Language Association

Dil Derneği (Language Association) is a Turkish non-profit organization dedicated to the purification and development of the Turkish language. It was founded on 22 April 1987 by advocates of language purification following the 1982 constitutional change that transformed the Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu) from an autonomous institution into a government-affiliated body. The association is headquartered in Ankara and is recognized as a public-benefit association. It publishes reference works such as the Turkish Dictionary and the Spelling Guide, as well as the monthly journal Contemporary Turkish Language. The association also grants annual awards in memory of notable figures and has been involved in public events, including the 2006 Republic rallies. As of 2025, its president is Sevgi Özel, one of its founders.

Dil Derneği was established on 22 April 1987 by a group of 34 founders, including Sevgi Özel, Bahriye Üçok, Mustafa Ekmekçi, Gülten Akın, Talip Apaydın, and Ali Püsküllüoğlu. The association emerged in response to the 1982 constitutional amendment that ended the autonomy of the Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu), which had been founded by Atatürk. Former members of the Kurum, starting in 1985, gathered under the roof of the Mülkiyeliler Birliği to celebrate the Language Festival and to protest what they saw as an injustice to Atatürk's institutions. The association's founding application was initially rejected, and its activities were suspended by the governor's office, with a criminal complaint filed against its founders. However, legal appeals led to a stay of execution and a decision not to prosecute. The association's purpose, as stated in its founding declaration, is to work for the purification of Turkish and its development to meet all scientific, technical, and artistic concepts through revolutionary understanding and scientific methods. It publishes reference works such as the Turkish Dictionary and the Spelling Guide, as well as books on language issues, the language revolution, and purification. It also publishes the monthly journal Çağdaş Türk Dili (Contemporary Turkish Language) since 1998 and the peer-reviewed journal Dil ve Yaratıcılık (Language and Creativity) since May 2008. The association grants several annual awards: the Ömer Asım Aksoy Award (since 1995), the Beşir Göğüş Award (since 2000), the Emin Özdemir Award (since 2018), and the Metin Uca Playwriting Award (since 2025). On 24 July 2002, a Council of Ministers decision recognized it as a public-benefit association. In 2006, it organized one of the Republic rallies in Manisa, supported by the Republican People's Party. As of 2025, Sevgi Özel continues as its president.

• 2025

  Started awarding the Metin Uca Playwriting Award.

• 2018

  Started awarding the annual Emin Özdemir Award.

• 2008

  Launched the peer-reviewed journal Dil ve Yaratıcılık in May 2008.

• 2006

  Organized a Republic rally in Manisa on 4 November 2006.

• 2002

  Recognized as a public-benefit association by Council of Ministers decision on 24 July 2002.

• 2000

  Started awarding the annual Beşir Göğüş Award.

• 1998

  Launched the monthly journal Çağdaş Türk Dili.

• 1995

  Started awarding the annual Ömer Asım Aksoy Award.

• 1987

  Founded on 22 April 1987 in Ankara.

A civil society organization advocating for the purification and development of the Turkish language, continuing Atatürk's Language Revolution.

• Türkçe Sözlük

  Turkish Dictionary, 4th edition published in March 2018.

• Yazım Kılavuzu

  Spelling Guide, 11th edition published in May 2019.

• Çağdaş Türk Dili Dergisi

  Monthly language and culture journal published since 1998.

• Dil ve Yaratıcılık

  Peer-reviewed journal published since May 2008.

1. 1Dil Derneği official websitedildernegi.org.tr
2. 2Dil Derneği - Wikipediatr.wikipedia.org
3. 3Language Association - Wikidatawikidata.org