Letters from Fuad Köserâif to Rıza Tevfik

Abstract

Fuad Köserâif is one of the most important intellectual figures of the “language purism” movement, which aimed to purify Turkish from “foreign” words, especially Arabic and Persian words, including those firmly entrenched in Turkish. During the early years of the Republic of Turkey, he was able to implement the ideas that he embraced in the late Ottoman Empire through the Turkish Language Association. However, it is understood that some of the policies pursued by the Language Association drew reactions from Fuad Köserâif. His letters to Rıza Tevfik are noteworthy in demonstrating the changing stance of a Turkish intellectual advocating revolutionary language policies over the course of time.