Our mission statement:

The Department of Turkish Literature at Bilkent University has been an internationally-recognized centre of excellence for teaching and research on Modern Turkish Literature since its establishment by esteemed scholar and translator Prof. Dr. Talât Halman in 1998. In recent years, building upon its rich history and pursuing the vision of its founder into the 21st century, our department has developed a particularly strong focus on comparative and transnational approaches to Modern Turkish and late Ottoman literature and culture. With a full-time faculty trained in prestigious universities in the United States and the United Kingdom, our department stands out among its peers for its bilingual curriculum, for its focus on graduate education, and for the excellent level of both financial and academic support it offers to its students, many of which have pursued doctoral studies and academic careers both in Turkey and abroad after graduating from Bilkent.