In a report in the British Rotary magazine 'Rotary Wheel' in
August 1929,
there is an account of Jim Davidson, the Special Commissioner
for
Rotary
Extension,
arriving in Istanbul, Turkey in 1928.
Although some meetings were arranged and several officials expressed interest, Davidson left
Turkey with the feeling that it would take perhaps years before conditions in Turkey
were such that the introduction of such a movement as Rotary could be successfully
accomplished.
He was right. Istanbul was not chartered until 1956.
Strangely, Ankara became the first club to be chartered in
Turkey when it was officially recognised on 23 March 1955.
There is no record of Davidson having visited Ankara.
The following extracted from the Club's web
site:-
The Rotary Club of Ankara was chartered on 23 March 1955 as the first club in Turkey.
It remains the only bilingual club in Turkey where both Turkish and English are
used during regular meetings. The first official meeting was
held on 24 March 1954 at the Ankara Palas. The decree number
4/4445 was issued on 11 February 1955 and entered in the RI
journal on 1 April 1955 under Rotary Club number 8970. The
original Charter document was presented to the Club's committee
on 7 April 1955 by the RI President at the time, Herbert Taylor
in the presence also of the District 245 Governor at the time,
A.J Catoni.
Indeed a memorable day for Rotary in Turkey.
These days the Club meets at the Hilton Oteli.
The Charter members of the club and their classifications were -
| Rtn. Şahap BİRGİ |
(TPAO Gn.Md.)
|
| Rtn. Cevat GİRİN |
(Osmanlı Bank.Böl.Md.) |
| Rtn. Orhan KORALTAN |
(Y.Mak.Müh.) |
| Rtn. Bernard NAHUM |
(Koç.Tic.Müd.) |
| Rtn. Tuğrul DEVRES |
(Mimar) |
| Rtn. Zeyyat EBÜZİYYA |
(Gazeteci) |
| Rtn. Sait ATCİ |
(Jokey Klübü Bşk.) |
| Rtn. Kemal SELER |
(Maden Mühendisi) |
| Rtn. Walter PETERSON |
(PAN.AM.Md.) |
| Rtn. Vedat URUL |
(İnşaat Mühendisi) |
| Rtn. Enis TOKCAN |
(TETİCO Md.) |
| Rtn. Gani NARAZAN |
(Mali Müşavir) |
| Rtn. Bülent BÜKTAŞ |
(KOÇ Gn.Md.) |
| Rtn. İhsan DOĞRAMACI |
(Prof.Dr.) |
| Rtn. Hikmet BELBEZ |
(Hukuk Prof.) |
| Rtn. Galip KARDAM |
(İnşaat Mühendisi) |
| Rtn. Ahmet TOKUŞ |
(Mühendis, Milletvekili) |
| Rtn. Vedat ABUT |
(Gazeteci) |
| Rtn. Hüseyin SERMET |
(Mühendis) |
| Rtn. Vecdi DİKER
|
(İnşaat Mühendisi) |
A photograph of the Charter Members -
 A complete list of all Past Presidents of the club follows -
| 1 . |
Şahap BİRGİ |
1954-1955 |
| 2 . |
Cevat GİRGİN |
1955-1956 |
| 3 . |
Cemal İMRE |
1956-1957 |
| 4 . |
Orhan MERSİNLİ |
1957-1958 |
| 5 . |
Celal İMRE |
1958-1959 |
| 6 . |
Necdet EGERAN |
1959-1960 |
| 7 . |
Galip KARDAM |
1960-1961 |
| 8 . |
Vedat URAL |
1961-1962 |
| 9 . |
Erol BÜKEY |
1962-1963 |
| 10 . |
Enis TOKCAN |
1963-1964 |
| 11 . |
Fethi GÜREl |
1964-1965 |
| 12 . |
Velid İSFENDİYAR |
1965-1966 |
| 13 . |
Yılmaz Öz |
1966-1967 |
| 14 . |
Fuat ZADİL |
1967-1968 |
| 15 . |
Azmi TLABAR |
1968-1969 |
| 16 . |
İlhan ÇEVİK |
1969-1970 |
| 17 . |
İrfan TÜMER |
1970-1971 |
| 18 . |
Bahattin BURSALI |
1971-1972 |
| 19 . |
Yavuz KİREÇ |
1972-1973 |
| 20 . |
Hüseyin SERMET |
1973-1974 |
| 21 . |
Yüksel SELER |
1974-1975 |
| 22 . |
Emin GÜROL |
1975-1976 |
| 23 . |
Necip ALAYELİ |
1976-1978 |
| 24 . |
Çetin GÖKÇEATAM |
1977-1978 |
| 25 . |
Aykut DUATEPE |
1978-1979 |
| 26 . |
Burçin ARKAN |
1979-1980 |
| 27 . |
Fahrettin ULUÇ |
1980-1981 |
| 28 . |
Şemsi BARGUT |
1980-1981 |
| 29 . |
Medeni SOYSAL |
1981-1982 |
| 30 . |
Önder ÇAVUŞOĞLU |
1982-1983 |
| 31 . |
Engin URAL |
1983-1984 |
| 32 . |
Yaşar ALIÇLI |
1984-1985 |
| 33 . |
Zafer GÜLÇUR |
1985-1986 |
| 34 . |
Kemal SELER |
1986-1987 |
| 35 . |
Kadircan BATURALP |
1987-1988 |
| 36 . |
Tarık ÇETİN |
1988-1989 |
| 37 . |
Doğan ERDEN |
1989-1990 |
| 38 . |
Nurhan AYDINALP |
1990-1991 |
| 39 . |
Önder GÜVEN |
1991-1992 |
| 40 . |
Volkan PASİNER |
1992-1993 |
| 41 . |
A.Ulvi SERDAROĞLU |
1993-1994 |
| 42 . |
Ali PADIR |
1994-1995 |
| 43 . |
Kenan Eratalay |
1995-1996 |
| 44 . |
Ömer Lalik |
1996-1997 |
| 45 . |
Güneş ÜÇER |
1997-1998 |
| 46 . |
Metin ACET |
1998-1999 |
| 47 . |
Vedat KİRİŞÇİ |
1999-2000 |
| 48 . |
Refii S. BERENT |
2000-2001 |
| 49 . |
Asım Gürel |
2001-2002 |
| 50 . |
Aral Ege |
2002-2003 |
| 51 . |
Günal Akbay |
2003-2004 |
| 52 . |
Serdar Kaya |
2004-2005 |
| 53 . |
Can Sezgin |
2005-2006 |
| 54 . |
T.Mesut Yalçın |
2006-2007 |
Also see the history
of Rotary in Turkey
|
