Ankara welcomes world’s 1st magazine museum, honoring Turkish literary legacy
CULTURE and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy heralded the Sebilürreşad Cultural and Arts Center as a groundbreaking addition to Ankara’s cultural landscape, being acclaimed as the world’s inaugural magazine museum. Speaking at the Opening Ceremony, Ersoy commenced his address by honoring the esteemed poet, writer and intellectual, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, coinciding with the 103rd anniversary of the Turkish national anthem’s adoption.
Ersoy highlighted that they inaugurated the world’s first magazine museum, noting that the magazine in question, “Sebilürreşad” (“Straight Path”), initially began its publication under the name Sırat-ı Müstakim in 1908. He elaborated that after facing various challenges, the magazine briefly ceased publication and then resumed, finally adopting the name Sebilürreşad in 1912 with its 183rd issue.
Ersoy emphasized that while the magazine’s publication started in Istanbul, it continued in Ankara following Mehmet Akif ’s move to Anatolia to support the National Struggle.
“The fact that Mehmet Akif Ersoy, the intellectual father of this magazine, and our national anthem were first published within these pages is significant for our understanding and appreciation of the museum’s historical value. The pages of Sebilürreşad served as a chronicle of the last approximately 15 years of the Ottoman Empire, the struggle for independence and the future of the Turkish nation, and the genesis of our republic. From Mehmet Akif Ersoy and Eşref Edip Fergan to Mehmet Şemsettin Günaltay, Yusuf Akçura and Ahmet Hamdi Aksekili, the most valuable literary figures of those years documented experiences, thoughts, developments and changes that shaped the 20th century, page by page,” the minister said.
Ersoy underscored the importance of preserving the past through institutional structures such as museums, stating that the ministry has taken significant steps in museum management by elevating the use of technology to create interactive spaces where visitors can engage, experience and become part of the narrative.
Ersoy also mentioned that through protocols signed between ministry-run museums and private museums, a total of 5,057 artifacts from the inventories of 38 museums have been loaned to 29 private museums for exhibition periods ranging from one to five years, yielding fruitful collaborations and international success for private museums, with their number reaching 403 as of today.
Selma Ersoy Argon, the granddaughter of the poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy, expressed in her speech on behalf of her family that Sebilürreşad magazine served as a workshop of ideas and thoughts.
Argon emphasized that the spirit her grandfather infused into his poems reflected a 5,000-year-old ancient tradition, highlighting how Mehmet Akif and his family had engaged with thousands of young people across Anatolia, Europe, Asia and the Balkans in hundreds of programs over the past 17 years.