Curatorial work in Turkey was initiated by famous painter and curator Osman Hamdi Bey at the end of the 19^th century and it recorded significant improvement in the Republic era. The main reason for this improvement is the importance Atatürk attached to the research on cultural assets and the steady rise in the number of museums all over the country. When the Republic was proclaimed there were only the İstanbul Archeological Museum known as the “Asar-ı Atika Müzesi” (Museum of Antiquities), the Military Museum housed in St. Irene, the Evkaf-ı İslamiye Müzesi (Museum of Islamic Foundations) within the Süleymaniye Mosque Complex and branches of the Müze-i Humayun (Imperial Museum) opened in some large cities of Anatolia.

The Türk Asar-ı Atikası (The Turkish Antiquities) department, established during the first years of the Republic as an affiliate of the Ministry of Education, undertook studies to gather and protect all kinds of archeological and ethnographical finds. Many monumental buildings such as churches, mosques and caravanserai in various provinces of Anatolia were restored and converted into museums.

The Topkapı Palace, having been converted into a museum together with its furnishings and effects, was opened to the public in 1927. The Evkaf-ı İslamiye Müzesi was reorganized as the “Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works of Art” and the Mevlana Dervish Lodge in Konya was converted into a museum in the same year.

The Ankara Ethnographical Museum, the first building in Turkey originally designed as a museum, was opened to the public in 1927 as well. New museums were also established in Bursa, Adana, Manisa, İzmir, Kayseri, Antalya, Afyon, Bergama and Edirne. The Hittite Museum, set up in the Mahmut Pasha Bedesten in Ankara in 1940, was restored in 1967 and renamed the “Museum of Anatolian Civilizations”. At present there are 95 museum directorates around the country affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 98 private museums and 1,522 private collectors, all under the supervision of these directorates.

The artworks which comprise the collections of these museums generally belong to various civilization ages in Anatolia. A great majority of these items have been unearthed in archeological excavations most of which started in mid-1930s. Besides the enormous archeological collections comprising prehistoric artefacts and products from the ages of antiquity, items belonging to Eastern Art and also to the Turkish-Islamic period comprise the second largest group. In addition, there are memorial museums associated with Ottoman history, the National War of Independence and the republican reforms, which have been restored in authenticity together with their own furnishings.

A model of the house in which Atatürk was born in Salonica was built in Ankara and turned into a museum. This museum displays Atatürk’s life and principles in documents and hand writings. In addition, the buildings in which Atatürk