Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey
| Abbreviation | TTOK |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1923 |
| Type | INGO |
| Purpose | Touring |
| Headquarters | Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey |
| Coordinates | 41°05′57″N 29°00′19″E / 41.09917°N 29.00528°ECoordinates: 41°05′57″N 29°00′19″E / 41.09917°N 29.00528°E |
|
Region served
|
Turkey |
|
Membership
|
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT) |
|
President
|
Dr. Bulent Katkak |
| Website | www |
The Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Turing ve Otomobil Kurumu) (TTOK), also known as Turkish Automobile Association, is an amateur and international organization dedicated to tourism and the automobile sector. It was founded in 1923 at the behest of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by a group of intellectuals led by Reşit Saffet Atabinen, a diplomat at the time and a historian. The club is a member of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT).
The association was established right after the proclamation of the Republic as "Turkish Travel Association" (Turkish: Türk Seyyahin Cemiyeti). It was renamed later to "Touring Club Turc" (Turkish: Türkiye Turing Klöbü). In 1930, the association received the legal status of a non-profit organization, and gained rights with regard to customs and traffic laws.
The club, working for many years in the beginning as a governmental agency, served in the fields of tourism, culture and technical issues. Highly needed materials for tourism such as prospectuses, posters, tourist guides and road maps in the early period of the newly founded republic were prepared and published by the association. Furthermore, it established and organized the first language courses, tourist guide exams, tourism congresses and conferences.
The association, located in an office at Galata, Istanbul with two rooms only and with two employees, had the assistance of a small number of volunteers with wide travelling experience. Despite its limited personal and financial resources, it achieved remarkable success.
An important event in the history of the club was the hosting of a meeting of the International Touring Alliance (AIT), the club became a member of shortly. For this purpose, Atatürk ordered the formally opening of Dolmabahçe Palace to public for the first time since the abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate. He announced to the Istanbul press that the Touring Club Association will be under his personal protection.
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Wikipedia