Institute of Turkish Studies

The Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS) is a foundation based in the United States with the avowed objective of advancing Turkish studies at colleges and universities in the United States. Having been founded and provided a grant from the Republic of Turkey in the 1980s, the institute has issued undergraduate scholarships, language study awards, grant money to scholars, and underwritten the holding of workshops. Its work has also attracted controversy by observers who have criticized it as a body held under the sway of the political ideology of the Turkish state, active in the denial of the Armenian Genocide and other topics considered taboo, such as the condition of the Kurds in the country.

In a surprise move in late 2015, the Turkish government announced that it would cut all funding to the institute.

The Institute of Turkish Studies was established in 1982, with a $3 million grant from the Turkish government. It is a non-profit, private educational foundation based in the United States "dedicated to the support and development of Turkish Studies in American higher education".Heath W. Lowry become the first executive director of the Institute, before becoming the incumbent of the Atatürk Chair of Turkish Studies at Princeton, which was financed by the Turkish government. The Institute is housed at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Writing in 1998, the Institute's treasurer stated that 95 percent of the Institute's income was derived from a trust administered by the Institute. The late Donald Quataert, former member of the Institute's board of governors, stated that the trust's funds can be revoked by the Turkish government.

OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS:

OFFICERS
Nabi Şensoy, Honorary Chairman and Ex Officio Member of the Board of Governors, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the US.
W. Robert Pearson, ret., Chairman, former United States Ambassador to Turkey David C. Cuthell, Executive Director

Since 1983, the Institute has sponsored an annual grant program to scholars, colleges and universities in the United States. The principal purpose of the grant program is to support the development of research, and scholarship in the field of Turkish Studies. The grant applications submitted to the Institute are evaluated by committees composed of the Board of Governors and Associate Members of the ITS. These standing committees present their recommendations to the Board of Governors for approval. The Institute offers grants and fellowships in the fields of Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies to graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, universities, and other educational institutions through its Grant Program for the 2009-2010 academic year.

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Wikipedia