The TurkishWomen's Cultural Associationwas founded with great effort and love. A group of ladies, led by the great Sufi mystic and writer Sâmiha Ayverdi, encouraged the educated but unhappy women around them who were not working and living without purpose to realize their own values and be useful to others. These ladies made great efforts to bring out the common values that Turkey had forgotten, and by helping people living in poverty, they directed the energy of greatness and beauty that they had harbored within themselves but were not aware of, to those in need and tried to help them become happy people. Each of them has grown as a trainer in their own right to spread the peace of mind brought about by the change they have experienced. They also received material and spiritual education at Kubbealtı, the biggest academy of the period, and were trained with a broad perspective on various subjects ranging from politics to finance, from mysticism to the truths of the Qur'an, and they lived what they learned there.
Since Sâmiha Ayverdi exemplified women's understanding of decency by living it in all its forms, she personally went to Ankara to ask for permission to open the Istanbul branch of the association, which she founded in Ankara as the Turkish Housewives Association, and which was headed by the esteemed Mrs. Sabahat Gülay, the epitome of diligence and perseverance. In 1966, the association started its activities under the name of Turkish Housewives Association and was included among the associations working for public benefit on 10.11.1970. On 28.6.1973, it was renamed the Turkish Women's Cultural Association and became the first non-governmental organization representing Turkish Women.
