Former Directors

Prof. Fikret TÜRKMEN

He was born in Boğazlıyan/Yozgat in 1954. After he finished elementary and secondary school in Boğazlıyan, he went to Bursa and graduated from Bursa Işıklar military high school. In 1963 he registered to Atatürk University/Erzurum. He attended to the department of Turkish Language and Literature and graduated in 1967. At the same year he appointed to Konya Male High School as literature teacher. Next year he succeeded the exam of Atatürk University and became a research assistant in the department of Turkish Language and Literature. In 1969 he was sent to İstanbul to Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kaplan for his PhD studies and he finished his PhD thesis “a Comprehensive Study about the Tale on Admirer Garip” in 1972. In 1974 he was sent to France for post-doc studies. He attended courses, seminars and conferences on methodology on folklore and folk literature with Prof. Dr. Pertev Naili Boratav from Sorbonne/Paris. He went back to Turkey in 1976. He studied in Atatürk University till 1978.

In 1978 he appointed to newly established Faculty of Social Sciences (now Faculty of Literature) in Ege University. He gained the degree of “associate professor” by his work "Tahir ile Zühre" in 1980 and he gained the degree of professor by his thesis "Nasreddin Hoca Fıkraları" in 1986.In 1992 he played a major role in founding Institution of Turkic World Studies within the scope of Ege University and he became founder-director of the Institute. Beyond his own studies on Turkish epics and folk-tales, he also supervised master and PhD thesis. He is a member of “Professional Society of Science and Literature Works Owner”, “Institute of Researching Turkish Culture” and “Science Board of Turkish Language Society” in Turkey.Abroad he is a permanent member of PIAC (Permanent International Altaistic Conference) in USA, "Turkish Studies Association" in Canada and USA, ESCAS (European Seminar on Central Asian Studies) in France. He attended various national and international congress and conferences and his articles were published in foreign languages (French, Russian). In University of Venice/Italy his book “Aşık Garip”(1974) was summarized and published in Italian.  He worked as head of editorial board of “Language and Literature Journal of Turkish World” published by Turkish Language Society and he also published “Journal of Turkic World Studies” in Institution of Turkic World/ Ege University.  In 1992 title of honorary PhD was given to Prof. Dr. Fikret Türkmen by Azerbaijan State University. In 1995 Prof. Dr. Fikret Türkmen was awarded with “Manas-1000” sign by Presidency of Kyrgyzstan for his studies and publications on Manas Epic.In 1996   the biggest award of Turkmenistan “International Mahdumkulu Reward” was given to Prof. Dr. Fikret Türkmen by President of Turkmenistan in a state ceremony. In 1997 Academy of Science in Kyrgyzstan gave him the title of “Academic”. In 1998 University of Çüy in Kyrgyzstan gave the title of honorary Professor to Türkmen.  .In 1999 Academy of Science in Kazakhstan gave the title of “Academic” and selected Prof. Türkmen as a member of Academy of Science in Kazakhstan. Prof. Dr. Fikret Türkmen is also a founder member and member of executive board of “International Institution of Worldwide Epics” which was founded by support of UNESCO in Bishkek/Kyrgyzstan. In 1999 Prof. Dr. Fikret Türkmen was awarded by “Service Award to Turkish World” by TÜRKSAV for his successful works on Turkic World.  Prof. Turkmen has retired in 2012, however, he has still continued to contribute to the field of Turkish folklore.

Prof. Metin​ EKİCİ

Prof. Metin EKİCİ was born in 1963 in Çal, Denizli, Turkey.In 1980, he registered to the department of Turkish Language and Literature/Faculty of Science and Literature at Atatürk University, Erzurum and he graduated in 1984.Afterwards in 1985 he started to work as Turkish Language Lecturer at Ege University. In 1986 he became a research assistant in the department of Turkish Language and Literature /Faculty of Literature at Ege University. In 1989 he completed his M.A in the Institute of Social Sciences /Department of Folklore at Dokuz Eylül University by submitting his thesis titled “Folk Tales Formed under the Influence of Dede Korkut”. In the same year he became a PhD candidate in the Institute of Social Sciences/ Department of Folklore at Ege University. After completing courses and passing efficiency exam, he started to work on his PhD thesis. Working on his thesis, he was entrusted by the Ege University Faculty of Literature in accordance with the Law no 2547 Article 33 and was sent to University of Wisconsin/Madison at USA in 1991. In 1996 Prof. Ekici earned Ph.D with the dissertation titled “The Anatolian Cycle of Köroğlu Stories” supervised by Prof. Sarah M. G. Atış. In the same year he went back to his work at Ege University. 

Prof. Nadim MACİT

Prof. Macit was born in 1958 in Oltu, Erzurum, Turkey. He completed his secondary education in Erzurum İmam Hatip High School in 1979. Afterwards he graduated from Faculty of Theology at Erciyes University in 1984. Prof. Macit completed his M.A. in 1988 and his Ph.D. in 1992 in the Institute of Social Sciences at Selçuk University, Konya. He started his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Kalam in the Faculty of Theology at Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van in 1993. In 1995, Prof. Macit became an Associate Professor. In 1997, he became a member of Çorum Faculty of Theology at Gazi University and he was appointed as a Full-Professor there in 2001. Finally he started his work at the Department of Social, Economic and Political Relations in the Institute of Turkic World Studies in 2010.