Cover not available

In:Tradition, Tension and Translation in Turkey
Edited by Şehnaz Tahir Gürçağlar, Saliha Paker and John Milton
[Benjamins Translation Library 118] 2015
► pp. 89–106

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

On the evolution of the interpreting profession in Turkey

From the dragomans to the 21st century

Published online: 10 July 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.118.04dir
This article examines the historical evolution and current status of conference and community interpreting in Turkey, while also highlighting the legal frameworks, fields of practice, professional organizations, training opportunities, and future directions for each area of interpreting. In addition to spoken language interpreting, the article surveys the development of Turkish Sign Language and signed language interpreting as well as its prospects in Turkey.
References (39)
Artunkal, Fatma. 2014. personal communication.
Artunkal, Fatma, and Zeynep Bekdik. 2014. personal communication.
Balcı, Sezai. 2006. Bab-ı Ali Tercüme Odası. Istanbul: Libra.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berk Albachten, Özlem. 2010. “Exile as Translation and Transformation in Early Republican Turkey.” Translation Studies 3 (2): 132–148. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bulut, Alev and Turgay Kurultay. 2001. “Interpreters-in-Aid at Disasters.” The Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication 7 (2): 249–263. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
By-Law on Lists of Interpreters to be used in Criminal Proceedings. 2013. [URL] (Last accessed on 14 December 2014).
Campbell, Helen. 2014. personal communication.
De Groot, Alexander. 2007. The Netherlands and Turkey: Four Hundred Years of Political, Economical, Social and Cultural relations: Selected Essays. Istanbul: Artpres.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Doğan, Aymil. 2004. “Mahkeme Çevirmenliği.” Çeviribilim ve Uygulamaları Dergisi, 14, 1–23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1995. Simultane Tıp Çevirisi Eğitiminde Bellek Destekleyici Anahtar Sözcük Yönteminin Etkinlik Derecesi. Unpublished PhD thesis, Hacettepe University.
Ercüment Tanrıverdi. 2013. personal communication.
Gürçağlar, Aykut. 2012. Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda Sanat Hamileri Olarak Tercümanlar: Sınırdaki Portreler. İstanbul: Scala Yayıncılık.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hirsch, Ernst E. 1985. Hatıralarım: Kayzer Dönemi, Weimar Cumhuriyeti, Atatürk Ülkesi. Translated by Fatma Suphi, Ünal Tekinalp, and Nuşin Ayiter. Ankara: Banka ve Ticaret Hukuku Araştırma Enstitüsü. (Translated from the German: Aus des Kaisers Zeiten durch Weimarer Republik in das Land Atatürks ).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hitzel, Frederic. 1995. Enfants de langue et Drogmans: Dil Oğlanları ve Tercümanlar. Translated by Mehmet Sert. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ICCA. 2012. [URL] (last accessed on 14 April 2014)
Kahraman, Rana. 2003. Afette Rehber Çevirmenlik. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Istanbul University.
Mansel, Phillip. 1995. Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire 1453–1923. London: John Murray.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miles, Mike. 2000. “Signing in the Seraglio: Mutes, Dwarfs and Jestures at the Ottoman Court 1500–1700.” Disability & Society 15 (1): 115–134. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nissen, Rudolf. 1969. Helle Blätter – Dunkle Blätter: Errinerungen eines Chirurgen. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neumark, Fritz. 1982. Boğaziçine Sığınanlar. Translated by Şefik Alp Bahadır. Istanbul: Ercivan Matbaası. (Translated from the German: Zuflucht am Bosphorus: Deutsche Gelehrte, Politiker und Künstler in der Emigration nach 1933 ).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Özcan, Lale. 1996. Türkiye’de Konferans Çevirmenliğinin Doğuşu ve Gelişimi. Unpublished M.A. thesis. İstanbul: Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi.
Paker, Saliha. 2009. “Turkish Tradition.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, ed. by M. Baker and G. Saldanha, 550–559. Oxford: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Philliou, Christine. 2009. “Communities on the Verge: Unraveling the Phanariot Ascendancy in Ottoman Governance.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 51 (1): 151–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. “Mischief in the Old Regime: Provincial Dragomans and Social Change at the Turn of the 19th Century.” New Perspectives on Turkey (25): 103–123.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pöchhacker, Franz. 2000. Dolmetschen: Konzeptuelle Grundlagen and deskriptive Untersuchungen. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reisman, Arnold. 2006. Turkey’s Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Atatürk’s Vision. Washington DC: New Academia Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ross, Jonathan. 2014. “Toplum Çevirmenliği” [Community Interpreting]. Talk delivered during the Yapi Kredi Seminar at Koç University Research Centre for Anatolian Civilizations on 22 January 2014, Istanbul.
Rothman, Ella-Natalie. 2009. “Interpreting Dragomans: Boundaries and Crossings in the Early Modern Mediterranean.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 51 (4): 771–800. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rothman, E. Natalie. 2012. Brokering Empire. Trans-Imperial Subjects between Venice and Istanbul. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Schouten, Barbara, Ross, Jonathan, Zendedel, Rena and Ludwien Meeuwesen. 2012. “Informal Interpreters in Medical Settings: A Comparative Sociocultural Study of the Netherlands and Turkey.” The Translator 18(2): 311–338. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwartz, Philipp. 2003. Kader Birliği: 1933 Sonrası Türkiye’ye Göç Eden Alman Bilim Adamları. Translated by Nagehan Alçı. Istanbul: Belge Yayınları.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seyhan, Azade. 2005. “German Academic Exiles in Istanbul: Translation as the Bildung of the Other.” In Nation, Language and the Ethics of Translation, ed. by Sandra Bermann and Michael Wood, 274–289. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sözen, Zeynep. 2000. Fenerli Beyler. 110 Yılın Öyküsü (1711–1821). İstanbul: Aybay Yayıncılık ve Kültür Hizmetleri.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tahir Gürçağlar, Şehnaz and Ebru Diriker. 2004. “Community Interpreting in Turkey.” Çeviribilim ve Uygulamaları Dergisi (14): 73–93.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
TID Alphabet. 2014. [URL] (Last accessed on 14.10.2014)
Wolf, Michaela. 2012. Die vielsprachige Seele Kakaniens: Übersetzen und Dolmetschen in der Habsburgermonarchie 1848 bis 1918. Wien, Köln und Weimar: Böhlau Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yıldız School for the Deaf. 2014. Accessed 14 December 2014. [URL]
Zeshan, Ulrike. 2003. “Aspects of Türk İşaret Dili (Turkish Sign Language).” Sign Language and Linguistics 6 (1): 43–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. “Sign Language in Turkey: The Story of a Hidden Language.” Turkic Languages 6 (2): 229–274.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (12)

Cited by 12 other publications

Chen, Yang
2025. Exploring Professional Interpreters’ Teaching Motivations in Academic and Private Sectors: An Interview-Based Study. In Multilingual Education Yearbook 2025 [Multilingual Education Yearbook, ], ► pp. 135 ff. DOI logo
Devaux, Jérôme, Sarah Cox & Ahmed Halil
2024. Interpreting for Syrian Refugees in Turkey. In Zwischenstationen / Inbetween, ► pp. 65 ff. DOI logo
SEYFİOĞLU, Zeynep Melissa & Dilruba TEMUÇİN
2023. A review of actor-oriented capitals and investments in the field of interpreting in Türkiye. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi :Ö12 ► pp. 699 ff. DOI logo
ÖZKAYA MARANGOZ, Esra
2023. The Transformative Role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Interpreting and Language Services. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi :36 ► pp. 1591 ff. DOI logo
ŞEN BARTAN, Özgür, Ufuk ÇELEBİOĞLU, Mesut YAZICI & Erdem ÖNAL
2023. Türkiye’de Türk İşaret Dili Mahkeme Tercümanlığı Hizmeti Almış Sağır Bireylerin Aldıkları Çeviri Hizmetine Yönelik Görüşleri. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi :Çeviribilim Özel Sayısı ► pp. 514 ff. DOI logo
Crezee, Ineke H.M., Oktay Eser & Fatih Karakaş
2022. Introduction to Healthcare for Turkish-speaking Interpreters and Translators, DOI logo
Dastyar, Vorya
2022. Book review: The Routledge Handbook of Conference Interpreting. Interpreting and Society 2:1 ► pp. 112 ff. DOI logo
ERYILMAZ, Enise & Neslihan DEMEZ
2021. Türkiye'deki Mahkeme Çevirmenliğinin Çevirmen Meslek Standardı Açısından Değerlendirilmesi. Çeviribilim ve Uygulamaları Dergisi 2021:31 ► pp. 127 ff. DOI logo
Arzık-Erzurumlu, Özüm
2020. Interpreting during the Cold War era in Turkey. Translation and Interpreting Studies 15:3 ► pp. 419 ff. DOI logo
CONKER, Nesrin
2020. Sign Language Interpreting in the Turkish Public Service Domains in the 21st Century. Çeviribilim ve Uygulamaları Dergisi :29 ► pp. 42 ff. DOI logo
Erol, Halil İbrahim
2020. 1798-1850 Arası Mısır’da Matbaa: Tarih Alanında Neşir ve Tercüme Faaliyetleri. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi 7:2 ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo
Gambier, Yves
2018. Concepts of translation. In A History of Modern Translation Knowledge [Benjamins Translation Library, 142], ► pp. 19 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue