Today in History – 9 October

Turkey’s first printed cloth factory

Sümerbank Printed Cloth Factory of Nazilli was the first important initiative of the young Republic’s first Five-year Development Plan and the first printed cloth factory to be established by the state. The majority of the Turkish-Soviet joint effort factory’s machinery and equipment was bought from the Soviet Union in exchange for citrus fruits. During the establishment process of the factory, the foundations of which were laid on August 25, 1935, 120 Soviet monitors and engineers were recruited to compensate for the shortage of trained personnel. The factory was completed in 18 months and was inaugurated by Atatürk on October 9, 1937.

The factory would produce 20 million meters of printed cloth per year. Considering that Turkey’s population was 16 million at the time and cotton fabric consumption was 4 meters per person, Nazilli Printed Cloth Factory alone would be able to meet one third of the country’s need.

Another feature of the establishment was that it was the prototype for the “Social Factory Project” Atatürk had in mind. Indeed, Nazilli Printed Cloth Factory was not merely designed as a manufactory, but rather as a “lebensraum,” a laboratory in which research and development was conducted, a school providing education, and a complex that also provided all kinds of arts and sport facilities. Atatürk was planning to build these “social factories” with high standards of living for the workers all across Anatolia. However, his untimely death did not allow him to bring these project to life.