Tracking public relations history in 1960s’ Turkey: The prevalence and reflections of development discourse

• PR education and applications in private and public sector are examined.
• PR in Turkey is institutionalized during 1960s.
• PR was an agent of public education and planned development during 1960s.
• Social good and public interest accepted as goals of PR efforts.

This study is based on a historical research, which focuses on the institutionalization of public relations in Turkey during the 1960s, and interprets this process in the frame of planned development discourse. Primary written sources collected from archive research and oral narratives generated from fourteen semi-structured interviews conducted with the pioneers in Turkey are analyzed through categorization and thematization. Findings of the historical research indicated that similar themes and orientations guided public relations practices in public and private sector in this period. Accordingly public relations education provided necessary intellectual background and human resources.