Külliye

Öz

The Ottoman Youth Associations were established as an inspectorate under the Ministry of War during the First World War. As one of the institutions established by Enver Pasha during the war years, the Youth Associations had a field of activity aimed at providing military training to young people before they were conscripted. Within the existing borders of the Empire as of 1916, an organization was formed in which boys between the ages of 12-17 were called "Gürbüz" and young people up to the age of military service were called "Dinç".
In addition to certain physical training activities, these children and youth, especially the Dinçs, learned the basics of military training before entering military service. Thus, young people who reached the age of military service and were trained within this organization would be able to enter military life more easily and with more knowledge.
Throughout the First World War, the Inspectorate of Young People's Associations, with the efforts of the German Colonel von Hoff and Selim Sırrı Tarcan, carried out its activities in accordance with its purpose. The Ottoman Inspectorate of Young Associations, which also attracted attention with its magazine published from 1917 onwards, passed on an approach in line with its founding purpose as a legacy to Republican Turkey.