FOUNDATION AND FIRST DAYS OF ANKARA UNIVERSITY LAW FACULTY

Ankara University Faculty of Law has a very special place in the Turkish Revolution and Turkish Legal History. With the title of being the first higher education institution of the Republic and the claim of being the founder and strengthener of the new Turkish social life, this law school, which started its teaching activities under the roof of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on November 5, 1925, with tens of thousands of graduates it has trained in the last eighty-four years, aims to establish and protect the law of the Republic. In addition to the development of the Turkish society, it also performed a fundamental task in the modernization of Turkish society.

The purpose of writing this article is to remind the story of the establishment of Ankara University Faculty of Law and the place of the Faculty in the process of creating the law of the Republic.

Evolution, Revolution and Revolution

Like nature, the people and communities that are a part of it are constantly changing. When change happens slowly, without shaking the body of society, it is from evolution; from the revolution in the event of a rupture that occurs as a result of the excessive deterioration of the social and economic structures of the societies; In the case of the establishment of a new order, which largely denies the old order as a result of the revolution, we speak of revolution. The process that started with the establishment of the Republic in October 1923 can be described as a revolution.4 Ankara Law School, which was founded on 5 November 1925, has its place on the history line in the History of Revolution.

The Ottoman Empire, which lasted for about six centuries, undoubtedly made great efforts to stop the collapse process. At the beginning of these efforts in the field of law, II. The Tanzimat Fermanı (Gülhane Hatt-ı Hümayunu) prepared by Mustafa Reşit Pasha during the reign of Mahmut (1808-1839) and published on 3 November 1839 can be counted. Innovations such as self-limitation of the government, the preparation of laws by the councils through collective procedures, personal immunity and security, and the absence of unlawful crime and punishment, entered into Ottoman law during the Tanzimat period, which aimed to take over. land law, criminal and penal procedural law, land and maritime commercial law, Important laws were enacted in the fields of procedural law and civil law.7 The codification movement is important in that it shows that the Ottomans started to deviate from theocratic principles, “beside the shar'i law, a legislation that is in line with but exceeds the old customary law, and a non-religious law community begins to form”. While some of the laws enacted in this period are texts transferred from European countries, some of them are texts of local origin, but based on customary law, not sharia law.8

Although the westernization and modernization process in law, which started with the Tanzimat Edict, suffered significant interruptions, first the first constitution (Kanun-i Esasi - 23 December 1876) was drawn up with the First Constitutional Monarchy and the first parliament (Meclis-i Mebusan - 19 (20) March 1877) was opened and a long II. following a period of tyranny9. He continued with the Constitutional Monarchy. II. It is seen that during the Constitutional Monarchy period, enactments were made that moved away from the shar'i law and focused on the principle of judicial unity. In this period, besides the constitutional amendments, the meeting, strike and press laws were also made.10

After the Ottoman Empire accepted the loss of the First World War and collapsed completely with the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918, the occupation of the Ottoman lands and the national liberation war that started on May 19, 1919 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Ottoman Empire. With the establishment of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 23, 1920, in order to fill the power vacuum arising from the collapse of Turkey, a revolution took place;11

With the proclamation of the Republic on October 29, 1923, after the completion of the revolution phase, the new state started the revolution phase.

Old Law – New Law

The legal system that was valid in the Ottoman Empire was essentially shar'i law, which took its source directly from the religion of Islam. The main source of law was the Book, the Quran. The Sunnah (the practice and words of the Prophet Muhammad) was used in matters for which there was no provision in the Qur'an. If a regulation could not be found here, too, Ijma (the solution that all religious scholars agreed on without being aware of each other) would be resorted to. In the absence of consensus, a solution would be sought by qiyas (by connecting an issue about which there is no nass [verse and/or sunnah] to an issue about which there is nass due to the common causality and/or feature between them). It was imperative that ijma and qiyas be in accordance with the nass. Therefore, the Qur'an and the Sunnah were the main sources of shar'i law. Sharia law does not give women any rights in the field of public administration,

While the Shariah law was valid only for Muslims, the rules of the religion to which they belonged were applied for non-Muslims. Therefore, there was no unity of law in the Ottoman Empire. Although efforts were made to ensure equality among Ottoman subjects and to eliminate the deficiencies in the legal order during the Tanzimat period (for example, some scattered legal sources were systematized under the name Mecelle and legalizations were made by transferring from European laws in areas such as commercial law and criminal law). The rules of law derived directly from the Qur'an and the Sunnah were left untouched.13

Above, revolution was defined as 'the establishment of a new order which largely denied the old order'. While the republic completely changed the state system, it also rejected the old in the legal system and established a new system.

One of the main aims of the Republic is to achieve full equality among all citizens without discrimination on the basis of their religion or gender; It was a modern regulation of all legal relations. This aim could only be achieved through the establishment of a secular and modern legal system. The studies started with the field of civil law. Those who made the revolution preferred to transfer the law of an advanced country to the new Turkish law instead of preparing a new law from scratch. The newest civil code in Europe at that time was that of Switzerland. The Turkish Civil Code and the Turkish Code of Obligations, which are two parts of a whole, were translated from Switzerland into Turkish and enacted on 16 and 22 April 1926. Şevket Memedali Bilgişin, instead of writing laws,

"My child; Do we have staff who can apply these laws in our country, which we will have them translated if we do what they want?"

«Pasha; If one day you hear that a very excellent new weapon has been invented in Europe, would you hesitate to buy that weapon because we have no soldiers in our country who know how to use it? Of course not… You take the gun and train the soldiers who can use it.”

At this point, Ankara Law School comes out to train lawyers who will create, implement and develop new law instead of lawyers who know and apply the old law.

A Law School in Ankara

March 1, 1924  15 In the first session of the second term of the Grand National Assembly, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha made a speech stating that our understanding of justice, our laws and our judicial organization should be freed from ties that are not compatible with the requirements of the age, and that the page of the Republican revolutions in the field of law is about to be opened.16 Bilgişin' According to the opinion, most of those present in the parliament on that day did not dwell on the words of the Pasha, who said in his speech, “The path we will follow in the law of civilization and in the family of law will only be the path of civilization”, and could not comprehend its nature.17 However, 3 days after this speech, the Caliphate was abolished, and then Tevhid- i Educational unity was ensured with the Education Law, and the existence of Shari'ah courts was abolished on April 8, 1924.All these developments are the preparatory stages of the creation of a secular and modern legal system and the teaching of this new law.

In fact, Kastamonu Deputy Abdülkadir Kemali Bey was the first to bring the issue of opening a law school in Ankara to the agenda of the Assembly. On March 16, 1921, Abdülkadir Kemali Bey submitted a three-point law proposal for the opening of a law school under the Ministry of Justice in Ankara for students whose education was interrupted because they were sent to the military in the First World War; However, the proposal was rejected by the Education Committee (Parliamentary National Education Commission) on the grounds that even primary schools could not find buildings, materials and teachers.18

Mahmut Esat (Bozkurt) Bey was the person who wanted to renew the entire legal system, especially the Civil Code, and train lawyers who were cut off from the old law. Although he could not express his opinion clearly in the Assembly due to the conditions of the day, Mahmut Esat Bey had an allowance included in the 1925 Budget Law draft for the opening of a boarding law school. The reason was the lack of judges. Istanbul Faculty of Law had forty-fifty graduates a year and it was not possible to fill the gaps with them. However, the Muvazene-i Maliye Committee (Parliamentary Budget Committee), which examined the bill, thought that instead of opening a new boarding law school, the aim of educating more law students with less expense could be achieved by adding a dormitory to the existing Istanbul Faculty of Law, making this allowance the Istanbul Law School. He moved to college. 19 While the Budget Law was being discussed in the General Assembly of the Assembly on February 21, 1925, the word came to the opening of a law school in Ankara, and after long discussions, the opening of the Ankara Leyli (boarding) Law School was accepted with a margin of four votes.20 Cemil Bilsel, Mahmut Esat Bozkurt 's requests before the Assembly are extremely modest; He notes that he demanded not a perfect faculty like Istanbul Law, but a kind of vocational school that would develop over time, and that the decision to establish a school was made by the Assembly because he based his demands on the state center and the revolution:21 Mahmut Esat Bozkurt's demands before the Assembly were extremely modest; He notes that he demanded not a perfect faculty like Istanbul Law, but a kind of vocational school that would develop over time, and that the decision to establish a school was made by the Assembly because he based his demands on the state center and the revolution:21 Mahmut Esat Bozkurt's demands before the Assembly were extremely modest; He notes that he demanded not a perfect faculty like Istanbul Law, but a kind of vocational school that would develop over time, and that the decision to establish a school was made by the Assembly because he based his demands on the state center and the revolution:21

“We are in the Central Republic. This place needs a Mekteb-i Hukuk, behemehâl. This environment will also benefit from the education to be made, not only to the student. In a country that has made the most beautiful revolution in the world, is it not possible to read the law of the century, gentlemen? Let Anatolia benefit from education as much as Istanbul benefits... »22

Commission and “Professor”

In the same year, Mahmut Esat Bey, who wanted to establish a law school, gathered his trusted lawyers, some of whom had studied in Europe, at the Ministry of Justice on September 15, 1925, and formed a commission.23

One of the issues discussed in the commission was what the name of the school would be. Ankara Adliye Hukuk Mektebi24 was chosen as the name. There were two reasons for this. First, it was inappropriate to call the school a faculty, since a faculty could only be established under a university. However, there was not a university in Ankara yet.25 In addition, it was aimed to emphasize the goal that the lawyers who will be trained from the school to be established should be different from the conservative lawyers trained in Istanbul Law Faculty, broad-minded and alert. If the goal was achieved, they would be known as Ankara School (Ankara School).26

That day, at the commission meeting, the school's curriculum was outlined. For example, Mecelle, which is being taught in Istanbul Law School, would not be taught in Ankara Law School, as it was known by the commission members that the newly prepared Civil Code would break the relationship with Islamic law! In addition to the general law history courses, upon the suggestion of Mahmut Esat Bey, this course was to be established for the first time by establishing the Turkish Legal History department.27 While the Turkish Law History course was introduced, Usul-i Fiqh, one of the most important branches of Islamic law, was abolished.28

Another issue that was discussed a lot was the title of the teachers who would teach at the school. In Istanbul Law Faculty, teachers were called professors. The founders of Ankara Law School, who thought that the title of professor reminded of a madrasah, did not want to be addressed with this title. Another adjective that comes to mind was teacher. When it was learned that associate professors were called professors at the Istanbul Faculty of Law, this title was not accepted, as the title of Professor Cemil Bilsel, who came from Istanbul, might be perceived as if he had been reduced to associate professorship. The western equivalent of the professor was professor. On September 15, 1925, the founders of Ankara Law School chose the title of professor instead of the title of professor, which they disliked, perhaps due to lack of alternatives.

One of the most important issues at the commission meeting was the method to be followed by the school to be established. The method of examination and criticism (research and criticism) was chosen both in scientific research and in teaching.30 At the end of the meeting, the commission named itself as the Council of Professors, Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha as the Honorary Chairman (honorary chairman) of this assembly and İsmet Pasha, the prime minister, on Turkish Law History. He was elected as an Honorary Professor.31 Mahmut Esat Bey assumed the presidency of the Council of Professors and the professorship of the History of Revolutions course.32 Cemil Bey was appointed as the Deputy Head, that is, the first dean of the school.3

The school's primary teaching committee consisted of the following people:34

Ağaoğlu Ahmet Bey (Kars Deputy) — Professor of Law and Fundamentals

Akçuraaoğlu Yusuf Bey (Deputy of Istanbul) — Professor of History and Politics

Bahaeddin Bey (One of the Professors of the Darülfünun) — Professor of Law, Penalty and Criminal Procedure

Tevfik Kamil Bey (Deputy of Istanbul) — Professor of Roman Law

Cemal Hüsnü Bey (Gümüşhane Deputy) — Professor of Economics

Cemil Bey (One of the Professors of Darülfünun) — Professor of Law

Hasan Bey (Deputy of Trabzon) – Professor of Finance

Refik Bey (Acting Medical Officer) – Professor of Medical Forensics

Saraçoğlu Şükrü Bey (Deputy of İzmir) — Professor of Economics

Şükrü Kaya Bey (Member of Hinge) — Professor of Economics Sects

Şevket Mehmet Ali Bey (Is Bank Legal Counsel) — Professor of Law and Commerce

Sadri Maksudi Bey — Professor of Turkish Legal History and Legal History

Süheyp Nizami Bey (Director of General Transactions of Ziraat Bank) — Professor of Law and Administration

Mahmut Esat Bey (Deputy of the Courthouse) — Professor of History of Revolutions

Mustafa Fevzi Bey (Deputy of Saruhan) — Professor of Fiqh History

Veli Bey (External Legal Counsel) — Professor of Law and Civilization

Yusuf Kemal Bey (Sinop Deputy) — Professor of Economics35

 

School Opened in Fifty Days

The time elapsed between the first meeting of the Professors Assembly and the opening of the Ankara Law School is fifty days. The biggest challenge faced was the provision of buildings for lectures and boarding students. Because in Ankara of the period, there were not enough buildings even for ministries. Since a new one is being built, the Post Office Building was allocated to the Ministry of Justice for the School of Law - despite the requests of the Deputy of the Navy (Minister of Maritime). His house was rented and one room of this house was reserved for the school principal (Fevzi (Bali) Bey, who later became the Secretary General of Ankara University), and another for the use of teachers who could not find a rental home yet. Huseyin Cahit Oguzoglu, He reports that some students, including himself, stayed at the Mustantik School in the Jewish quarter until Tahsin Efendi's house was prepared for the placement of the students.37 Ankara Law School, the first higher education institution of the Republic, was opened by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (1st Assembly in the Nation) on 5 November 1925. Building) was opened in the General Assembly Hall by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha with the participation of all ministers, especially Chief Deputy İsmet Pasha and Deputy Courthouse Mahmut Esat Bey, and almost all deputies and representatives of foreign countries. Mustafa Kemal Pasha talked about the Turkish Revolution in his speech at the opening; complained about the old law and lawyers; He gave the task of educating the real legal scholars of the republican era to the students of the Ankara Law School.38 Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha,

“I have never experienced the happiness I felt at the opening of this great institution that will be the sanction of the Republic, and I am pleased to reveal and state it.”39

The Speech of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha  at the Opening of the Ankara Faculty of Law;

Honorable here! Dear listeners!

The reason for opening a law school in the administrative center of the Republic has prepared our meeting today. The event we are witnessing today is of greater importance than the attempt to train high officials and sensitive scholars. The Turkish revolution, which has been going on for years, has embraced its existence and thoughts, to determine and confirm the new legal rules that are the source of its social life.

What is the Turkish revolution? This revolution, apart from the revolutionary meaning of the word, describes a wider change than it. The shape of our state today has been the most developed form that has destroyed the old forms that have been coming for centuries.

The common bond that the nation thought among its unity in order to maintain its existence has changed its form and content for centuries, that is, the nation gathered its members with the bond of Turkish nationality instead of religious and sectarian connection.

The nation has accepted as a fixed real principle that the climate and tool that will be the reason for life and the cause of strength in the field of international general struggle can only be found in contemporary civilization.

In short, the Masters considered it necessary that the general administration and all its laws should be inspired only by the needs of the world, as a natural and necessary requirement of the changes and revolutions that I consider as a nation. With the change and development of his needs, he considered an understanding of administration about the world, which is based on continuous change and development, as a reason for living.

If you examine your memories only six years ago, you will remember that we are on completely different foundations in the form of the state, in the joint bond of the members of the nation, in the pursuit of the path of civilization that will be the cause of strength, in short, in terms of all institutions and the provisions on which they base their needs. These changes in the life course of our great nation for six years are one of the greatest revolutions that are much higher than any revolution.

It has been seen that many nations are angry in the struggle for liberation and rise. But this anger is not like the conscious anger of the Turkish nation.

First of all, by ignoring the existence of the laws and works in the hands of the lawyers, first of all, the Turkish nation and state, in the effort that the Turkish nation has spent on the way to the great revolution I mentioned, and in the tireless and inexhaustible struggles against foreign enemies, during the implementation of the national will that destroyed the resistance, and in the hands of the lawyers. It has passed for the sake of revealing the form of existence with practice. Now it is time for the thought ration of this great work that has emerged, to create new legal rules and new legal scholars that will satisfy their needs.

I think that the Ankara Law School has started to take measures to explain and protect the law of the Republic not only in the way it is seen and said, but also with its inner face that is understood and comprehended, with its laws and legal scholars.

The old laws of life, the new rules of life and the new law have replaced the old laws in Republican Turkey, which is an unhesitating fait accompli today. This fait accompli will be described and explained in your books and in your laws for enforcement.

Student Masters and Lawyer Masters!

When I talk about the new rules of law and the laws that our new needs demand, I do not point out the reason "Every revolution must have its own sanction", only for this reason. I say this by refraining from advocating for an empty system, but with full regret considering how painful and sad the efforts of the Turkish nation for at least three hundred years to benefit from the qualities and yields of modern civilization have vanished in the face of obstacles.

The negative and overwhelming force that has doomed our nation to collapse and has plagued the entrepreneurs, employees and laborers who have not been missing from time to time in the fertile bosom of our nation has been the law and its sincere implementers. I am sure that what I have seen in history, which may have been heavy and fearless, will not cause anyone's astonishment among your distinguished committee and among our esteemed officials and judges, whose services we are using today in the Government of the Republic. However, please allow me to explain the purpose a little more. Consider the 1453 victory of the Turks in general international history, namely the conquest of Istanbul.

Three hundred years of observance and hesitation by obsolete law and its jurists to allow the printing press to enter our country has caused a lot of power and might to be spent for and against.

Do not be deceived that I have chosen a very distant and very old period and its lawyers, which have no power to resurrect the old law. If I try to give an example of the difficulties that the old law and its lawyers have given me in our new revolution period, I run the risk of disturbing you. But you should know that at the time of the establishment of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, there were famous lawyers at the forefront of those who considered its current interior and situation contrary to the rules of law and science. When I made the proposal of the law stating that the sovereignty rests with the nation unconditionally in the Grand National Assembly, there were well-known lawyers who deceived the nation with their old and scientific knowledge, at the beginning of those who opposed because this law changed the Ottoman Constitution.

Respected Gentlemen!

I would like to portray a bad event that took place after the declaration of the Republic before our awakened eyes. The bar association committee of our biggest city, which consists of high experts who have learned knowledge in this country, maybe in Europe, has elected a person who openly declared that he is a caliphate and who is proud of declaring it, and made him its president. Isn't this event enough to explain the sincere and real situation and tendency of the outdated legal scholars towards the understanding of the Republic? All these events show that the reformers are the greatest but most insidious mortal enemy, the rotten law and its incurable supporters. The old legal scholars, who were obliged to suppress the old law rules during the nation's fiery revolutionary moves, As soon as the strength and fire of the toilers begin to slow, they immediately come to life and wait for the opportunity to condemn the rules of the revolution and its sincere followers and their venerable ideals. This opportunity is solid with the existence of old laws and the existence of old legal rules and the presence of headstrong judges and lawyers in preserving the old understanding from the heart and soul.

I hope to explain the reasons for our current legal activities.

We are attempting to dismantle the old rules of law by creating entirely new laws. And we are opening these institutions in order to raise a new generation of law who will start learning from the new alphabet with the new legal rules. Our basis in all these practices is the nation's ability and firm will. Our friends in these initiatives are our distinguished lawyers who have understood the new law with us in the context I have mentioned.

It will be the tireless and incorruptible force in our nation and its revolution, which provides the time to look at and implement the new legal rules in our general life and until they are realized.

Student Masters!

You, who started your education with the claim of being the founder and strengthener of the new Turkish social life, will be the real legal scholars of the Republican era. The nation is waiting impatiently for you to grow up as soon as possible and start to meet the nation's wishes practically. I am sure that they will do the duty of the professors who will raise you properly. I have never experienced the happiness I felt at the opening of this great institution that will strengthen the Republic, and I am happy to explain and explain this. Source:  Hakimiyet-i Milliye: 06.11.1925

And After…

Ankara Law School, which started its classes under the umbrella of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and continued its activities for a month because the postal building was delayed, was renamed as Faculty in 1927 with the decision of the Council of Ministers40, and gave its first graduates on 8 July 1932.41 In 1940, the Ministry of Justice. Ankara Faculty of Law, which was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of National Education, took its place as the most senior faculty in Ankara University, which was established on June 18, 1946.42 In 1945, doctoral education began at the Faculty. When it comes to 1950, it is seen that the library of Ankara University Faculty of Law has the largest specialized library in the country with a book collection of 24 thousand volumes. 43 Today (2008), on the other hand, it is not content with educating lawyers with more than 100 thousand books in the Faculty library and a teaching staff of more than 100 people; It also trains the teaching staff of other law faculties and continues its duty to protect the revolutionary gains.

 

Source

Ahmet Mumcu, from Ankara Judicial School of Law to Ankara University Faculty of Law (1925-1975) – Half a Century History of Ankara Faculty of Law, Ankara 1977

Ahmet Mumcu, The Foundations and Development of the Turkish Revolution in terms of History, Second Revised Edition, Ankara 1973

Baha Kantar, The Past 25 Years of Ankara Faculty of Law, AUHFD, Year 1950, Volume 7, Issue 3-4

Bülent Tanör, Ottoman – Turkish Constitutional Developments, Istanbul 1992

Cemil Bilsel, Second Teşrin and Mahmut Esat Bozkurt, AUHFD, Year 1943, Volume 1, Issue 3

Esat Arsebük, Developmental Stages of Civil Law in Turkey, AUHFD, Year 1943, Volume 1, Issue 1

Faruk Erem, Faculty's 25th Anniversary Opening Speech, AÜHFD, Year 1950, Volume 7, Issue 3-4

H. Cahit Oğuzoğlu, Establishment and First Years of Ankara Faculty of Law, Ankara Faculty of Law 40th Anniversary Award, Ankara 1966

H. Cahit Oğuzoğlu, Speech on behalf of Faculty Graduates, AÜHFD, Year 1950, Volume 7, Issue 3-4

Mahmut Goloğlu, 3rd Constitutional Monarchy, Ankara 1970

Süheyb Derbil, Speech by the Most Senior Professor of the Faculty, AÜHFD, Year 1950 Vol 7, Issue 3-4

Şevket Aziz Kansu, Opening Speech of Ankara University's Primary Education Year, AÜHFD, Year 1946, Volume 3, Number 2-4

Şevket Memedali Bilgişin, İnkılâpçı (Mahmut Esat Bozkurt) and Revolution in Turkish Law, AÜHFD, Year1944, Volume 1, Issue 3

 

1 This goal was expressed in the speech given by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha at the opening of the Ankara Law School: “Student Masters: You, who started your education with the claim of being the founder and sanction of the New Turkish Social Community; You will be the true ulema-i law of the republican era.” Ahmet Mumcu, From Ankara Judicial School of Law to Ankara University Faculty of Law (1925-1975) – Half a Century History of Ankara Faculty of Law, Ankara 1977, p. 79.

2 Ahmet Mumcu, The Foundations and Development of the Turkish Revolution in terms of History, Second Revised Edition, Ankara 1973, p. 2.

3 “Revolution” should not be confused with “government coup d'etat”: “Government coup d'etat is a short-term de facto situation. The revolution, on the other hand, occurs spontaneously as a result of the long development in societies. Mumcu (1973), p.3.

4 It is also possible to take the beginning of the Turkish revolution to a date before the proclamation of the Republic, for example, to the date when the Turkish Grand National Assembly was opened. Undoubtedly, many achievements and innovations that formed the foundations of the Turkish Republic, such as the abolition of the sultanate on October 30, 1922, and the signing of the Lausanne Peace Treaty on July 24, 1923, took place between 1920 and 1923. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it would be more appropriate to start the history of the revolution as a "new order" with the proclamation of the Republic.

5 Tanzimat Edict II. Although it was prepared during the reign of Mahmut II. It was published after Mahmut's death, during the reign of his son Abdülmecit. Ferman is also known as Gülhane Hatt-ı Hümayunu because it was read in Gülhane Park.

6 Bülent Tanör, Ottoman – Turkish Constitutional Developments, Istanbul 1992, pp.63-68.

7 Tanor, p. 74-75. The Criminal Code in 1840, the Commercial Code in 1850, the Commercial Procedure Code in 1861, the Maritime Trade Act in 1864, and the Criminal and Civil Procedure Code in 1880 were enacted. All of these laws were transposed from French legislation. In the same period, although the quotation of the French Civil Code was brought to the agenda by the Grand Vizier Ali Pasha, it was not realized as a result of the pressure of the clergy.

The lack of resistance in terms of the Civil Code, for example, in terms of the Commercial Code, is explained by the fact that the majority of those engaged in trade at that time were not Muslims. After the French Civil Code could not be acquired due to the resistance of the clergy, the Mecelle, a law containing the general provisions of the civil law and the law of obligations, was prepared in sections without departing from the principles of fiqh, with the suggestion of Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, the minister of justice of the time; Mecelle was put into effect section by section between 1868-1876. Şevket Memedali Bilgişin, İnkılâpçı (Mahmut Esat Bozkurt) and Revolution in Turkish Law, AÜHFD, Year 1944, Vol 1, No 3, p. 320; Esat Arsebük, Developmental Phases of Civil Law in Turkey, AUHFD, Year 1943, Vol 1, No 1, p. 8-9, 12-13.

8 Tanör, p. 77.

9 The word “oppression” is defined in the TDK dictionary as “unlimited monarchy, despotism, despotism that does not grant any rights and freedoms to its subjects”. Sultan II. The period that started with Abdülhamit's putting the parliament on a "holiday" on February 14, 1878 and lasted until July 23, 1908 (proclamation of the Second Constitutional Monarchy) is known as the Depression Period in Ottoman history.

10 Tanör, pp. 171-172.

11 Mahmut Goloğlu covers the period between April 23, 1920, and January 20, 1921, when the Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Kanunu (Constitution) was adopted as “3. He describes it as “Constitutionality”. According to him, in this period, the national struggle has not yet gained a revolutionary character. See: Mahmut Goloğlu, 3rd Constitutional Monarchy, Ankara 1970

12 Mumcu (1973), p. 155.

13 Mumcu (1973), p. 155-156.

14 Bilgişin, p. 317

15 The date of Mustafa Kemal Pasha's speech is given as 28 February 1924 by Bilgiş and as 1 March 1924 by Mumcu. Against: Bilgisin, p. 316 and Mumcu (1977), p. 32.

16 Şevket Aziz Kansu, Opening Speech of Ankara University's Primary Education Year, AÜHFD, Year 1946, Vol 3, No 2-4, p. 233-234.

17 Bilgişin, p. 316

18 H. Cahit Oğuzoğlu, Establishment and First Years of Ankara Faculty of Law, Ankara Faculty of Law 40th Year Award, Ankara 1966, p. 2. Mumcu (1977), p. 24-26.

19 Oguzoglu (1966), p. 2-3. Cemil Bilsel, Second Teşrin and Mahmut Esat Bozkurt, AUHFD, Year 1943, Vol 1, No 3, pp.311-312. Mumcu (1977), p. 34.

20 Mumcu (1977), p. 35-58.

21 Bilsel, p. 311-312.

22 Oguzoglu (1966), p. 3.

23 There are two different information about who attended the first meeting of the commission. According to Süheyp Derbil, the attendees of the meeting are: Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Yusuf Akçura, Şevket Memadali Bilgişin, Cemil Bilsel, Tevfik Kamil Koperler, Yusuf Kemal Tengirşenk and Süheyp Nizami Derbil. Mumcu, on the other hand, states that Cemil Bilsel counts Hasan Saka, Refik Sayfdam, Sadri Maksudi and Şükrü Kaya in addition to these people. Mumcu (1977), p.60, dn. 40.

24 In the budget laws, the name of the school was mentioned as Ankara Leyli Law School until 1927. However, six days after the opening of the school, on 11 November 1925, the school's directive (regulation) was drawn up with a decree issued by the Executive Council (Council of Ministers), and the name of the school was determined as Ankara Adliye Hukuk Mektebi in accordance with the commission decision. For the text of the instruction see: Mumcu (1977), p. 105.

25 Indeed, Ankara University was established much later, in 1946.

26 Süheyp Derbil, Speech by the Most Senior Professor of the Faculty, AÜHFD, Year 1950 Vol 7, Issue 3-4, p. 11-12.

27 Derbil, s. 13.

28 Mumcu (1977), p. 67.

29 Derbil, p. 15, H. Cahit Oğuzoğlu, Speech on behalf of Faculty Graduates, AÜHFD, Year 1950, Vol 7, Issue 3-4, p. 22

30 Derby, p. 12, Mumcu (1977), p. 68.

31 It is understood from the reply telegrams sent by both Mustafa Kemal Pasha and İsmet Pasha to Mahmut Esat Bey that they accepted these honorary titles with great pleasure. See: Mumcu (1977), p. 69-70.

32 Cemil Bilsel explains that Mahmut Esat Bozkurt could attend only 3 lectures as a professor of the history of revolutions, but 8 years later, he taught to the fullest when he became a professor of Turkish Revolution History (History of Revolution) and adds: He was a volunteer watchman.” Bilsel, p. 312-313.

33 Hüseyin Cahit Oğuzoğlu states that Cemil Bilsel, who was the dean of Ankara Law School between 1925 and 1935, said in an opening speech that after he was appointed as the Rector of Istanbul University in 1935, "I will try to raise Istanbul Law Faculty to the level of Ankara Law Faculty"; that it caused quite a reaction and angered a lot of people; encountered serious problems; however, he tells that he was successful in Istanbul after all. Hüseyin Cahit Oğuzoğlu (1966), p. 14.

34 Baha Kantar, The Past 25 Years of Ankara Faculty of Law, AUHFD, Year 1950, Vol 7, Issue 3-4, p. 2-3.

35 The following persons who were appointed as professors at the end of the first or second academic year should be added to this first list: Sabri Şakir Bey (Director of Legal Affairs) — Professor of Procedural Law, Mustafa Şeref Bey (Deputy of Burdur) — Professor of Law, Administration and Public Law , Mazhar Nedim Bey — Professor of Maritime Trade, Nusret Bey (Head of the Council of State) — Professor of Legal Specialties, Fahri Ecevit — Professor of Medical Forensics.

36 Lessons were held in the meeting room of the People's Party (Republican People's Party) in the Grand National Assembly for about a month because the Post Office Building was evacuated and its preparation for the school was delayed. The Post Office Building was able to meet only the first class needs of the school; In the second year, a small mosque on Çankırı Street was converted into a classroom; in the third year, the cafeteria of the Post Office Building was turned into a classroom and the cafeteria was moved to the building that was newly built for the Ministry of Justice at that time and is now used as the Anafartalar Police Station.

Ankara Law School handled the building problem in this way until 1929. In 1929, the building (former Religious Affairs Building) next to the Iller Bank Building, which is now used as the Ankara Mufti Office, was allocated to the Faculty of Law; All classrooms have been moved to this building. Most of the boarding students were placed in Evkaf Apartment Building. After staying in this building for eleven years, Ankara University Faculty of Law moved to its current building in Cebeci. The building, which could not be completed on time due to lack of funds, was only delivered to the faculty in 1949. H. Cahit Oğuzoğlu (1966), 10-11. Kantar, p. 1-2, Mumcu (1977) p. 149.

37 Oguzoglu (1966), p. 7 et al.

38 Bilsel, p. 311-312. Mumcu (1977), p. 75-84.

39 Mumcu (1977), p. 84. The original statement is as follows: “I have never experienced the happiness I felt at the beginning of this great institution that will be the sanction of the Republic, and I am pleased to express and express it.”

40 Kantar, s. 4.

41 Bilsel, p. 313.

42 Themselves, s. 236.

43 Faruk Erem, Faculty's 25th Anniversary Opening Speech, AÜHFD, Year 1950, Vol 7, Issue 3-4, p. 8.

Ertugrul AKCAOGLU

Source: Türkiye  Barolar  Birliği  Dergisi Sayı:80 (Ocak-Şubat 2009), Sayfa:367-379