The Foundation of EAAT
The establishment of the Expert Accountants'Association of Turkey in 1942 marked an important milestone in the development of the accountancy profession in Turkey. The first private initiative in its field, the association was founded by the late Prof. Osman Fikret Arkun, İsmail Otar and 12 colleagues (1), later changing its name to the Turkish Expert Accountants Association in 1967. Important changes were also made to the status of the association in 1967 and its membership has since grown from 100 to the current figure of 1,300. Among its valuable services, TMUD has defined the profession within Turkey, helped society understand it, introduced global applications and acted as Turkey’s representative in international accountancy related initiatives. After 1938, TMUD participated in preparation works for draft professional laws in 1949, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1972, 1977 and 1987, and in order to ensure that such a law was enacted in line with Turkey’s requirements, it prepared draft bills and submitted proposals to the Finance Ministry and parliamentary commissions.
Association members participate in all major academic conferences in the field of accountancy and audit, either as organisers or as major contributors. Beginning with the First Turkish Accountancy Congress in 1957, TMUD has organised this congress every year, helping bring related institutions and universities into alignment. TMUD participated in the 14 Accountancy Congresses (2) held up to 1987 as an organiser; in the wake of TURMOD’s establishment TMUD assisted it with the organisation of the 15th congress in 1990 and is performing the same service for the 16th congress (arrangements for which are currently underway).
The Introduction of legislation to regulate the profession in Turkey has been a major goal for TMUD. In 1969 the association added professional internships and a qualifying exam into its conditions of membership, introducing accountancy principles and regulations in line with those in Western counties.
Beginning in 1954, the association has from time to time sent a 10-12 person delegation to the International Accountancy Congress. In 1972 it joined the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), sending a 14-strong delegation to the 11th International Accountants’ Congress (3) in Sydney, Australia; in 1977 the association participated in the 12th International Accountants’ Congress as founding members of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
As an IASC member the association adopted International Accounting Standards (IAS) in 1975, and TMUD requires its members to apply those standards as “mandatory professional principles”.
(1) The founders’ names are as follows:
Abdullah Aker, Ali Alaybek, Cemil Parman, Faik Somer, Faruk Alrona, İsmail Otar, İsmet Alkan, Nihat Kiver, Osman Fikret Arkun, Rasim Saydar, Recep Aydın, Zihni Bayo, Sadık Bigat, Celal Atasoy.
(2) Until 1966 congresses were organised annually; subsequently they were only rarely held.
(3) The congress held on the theme of “Accounting in One World” caused significant changes in the state of the profession globally; the people representing our country in the name of TMUD at this important congress were as follows:
Prof. Dr. Osman Fikret Arkun, Prof. Dr. Feridun Özgür, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Oluç, Prof. Dr. Jale Sehay, Prof. Dr. Kamuran Pekiner, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa A. Aysan, Dr. Daim Demircan, Prof. Dr. Kenan Gürtan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sedat Ünalan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erhan Kotar, Arman Mamukyan, Şükrü Kaya Akdarı, Bülent Çorapçı, Süleyman Kanat.
(4) Many of those present at the 12th Congress were members of the delegation to the 11th Congress.