Rotary in Türkiye, From Past to Present
Following the founding of the first Rotary Club in Chicago in 1905, Rotary became active in Türkiye about half a century later. Today there are more than 6,000 Rotarians in our country.
Although efforts to establish Rotary in our country date back to 1928, the first concrete steps were taken between 1950 and 1952 by journalist Falih Rıfkı Atay, journalist Ahmet Emin Yalman and Prof. Şükrü Esmer; these attempts, however, were not successful.
As a result of a second initiative launched by Oğuzhan Koraltan in 1952, the Rotary Club of Ankara — among whose founding members were Nail Avunduk and Assoc. Prof. Mukbil Özyörük — was established on 24 March 1954. Its first club president was Şahap Birgi. Having received its Charter on 23 March 1955, the Rotary Club of Ankara became, according to Rotary International records, the first Rotary Club in Türkiye.
The second club in our country is the Rotary Club of İstanbul, founded on 8 February 1956 by Oğuzhan Koraltan — who had moved from Ankara to İstanbul — together with Rifat Bereket, İsmail Hakkı Kutbay, Kazım Taşkent, Eli Rosental and Hilmi Naili Barlo.
The Rotary Club of İzmir, Türkiye's third club, held its first meeting on 9 January 1962 and received its Charter on 2 May 1963.
Türkiye's fourth club is the Rotary Club of Bursa, which held its first meeting on 12 June 1963 at the Çelik Palas Hotel.
The number of Rotary clubs in Türkiye rose to 6 in 1966. With the establishment of the Türkiye Administrative Advisory Committee in 1968, the growth of Rotary clubs gained momentum. The number of clubs reached 8 in 1968, 11 in 1970, 14 in 1972, 16 in 1974, 22 in 1976 and 30 in 1978. Over this ten-year period, the number of clubs grew by an average of 2.4 per year.
In 1980, Türkiye acquired the status of District 243 of Rotary International. Following this development, growth accelerated; the number of clubs, which stood at 31 in 1980, reached 78 in 1987.
In 1988, Türkiye was divided into two districts, resulting in the formation of the western District 242 and the eastern District 243. The number of clubs, which was 82 that same year, rose to 136 in 1993.
In 1993, District 242 was renamed District 2420 and District 243 was renamed District 2430.
In 1994, the Rotary clubs in Türkiye were divided into three districts. İstanbul and the Marmara region were assigned the code District 2420, Central and Eastern Anatolia District 2430, and the Aegean region District 2440.
The number of clubs, which was 150 in 1994, has today exceeded 250. Today, more than 250 Rotary Clubs are active in our country across the three districts numbered 2420, 2430 and 2440.