Activities of British Council in Turkey in 1940’s Through People’s Houses Eminalp Malkoç * Abstract The British Council (İngiliz Kültür Heyeti) initiated in 1940 in Turkey as the product of Turkish-British political convergence at the end of 1930’s. The British Council displayed activities throughout Turkey during and after WW2 with a cultural propaganda concept by opening language courses, organizing exhibitions and conferences, and displaying movies. The British Council realized almost all of its activities via People’s Houses between 1940-1950. This research has been conducted for the purpose of determining the relationship of the British Council with People’s Houses, its activities, and the efficiency and prevalence of its activities in Turkey by means of exemplifying and referring to the documents of the Republican People’s Party in the Republican Archive of the Prime Ministry. ritain has followed the Turkish Republic through various channels since its foundation despite the apathy in between; aiming to create an appropriate backdrop in order to enlighten her statesmen; determine a route map in communication with Turkish authorities; manipulate them, and be able to speculate in advance 1 . Turkey, with her geopolitical-strategic location and accomplishment level in the accelerated tempo of progress and modernization in the 1930’s, especially drew Britain’s attention in the prewar period and during the years of war. The British endeavored to gain Turkey 2 , and activated several institutions to communicate with Turks, gain their sympathy, and establish a cultural cooperation. British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) and The British Council(İngiliz Kültür Heyeti), which take place in Ahmet Emin Yalman’s statement, “Under the supervision of intelligence, coming together with the representatives of intelligence, of the cultural propaganda institution called the British Council, and of the B.B.C. Radio, we talked about the ways to improve the Turkish-British relations,” 3 were among these institutions. B The British Council(BC) is established for the familiarization of Britain by means of cultural, educational, and technical cooperation, and its structure in * İstanbul Technical University