Under the high patronage of İsmet İnönü, then President of the Republic, and under the chairmanship of Hasan Âli Yücel, Minister of National Education, the officials attending the First Geography Congress, held in Ankara between 6–21 June 1941, submitted a motion to the Congress Presidency on 21 June 1941 proposing the establishment of the Türk Coğrafya Kurumu.

Following the application submitted to the Governorship of Ankara on 30 January 1942, official approval was granted by letter no. 2350 dated 12 March 1942. The law of the Türk Coğrafya Kurumu was first published in the Ministry of Education Bulletin No. 126 dated 30 March 1942, and the establishment of the institution was announced in the 5 April 1942 issues of the newspapers Ulus and Cumhuriyet.

The purpose of the institution was defined as:
“To work for the development and advancement of geography and other physical and human sciences in Türkiye, to examine the geography of Türkiye through scientific methods, and to follow worldwide developments and progress in geography.”

According to its founding law, the Minister of National Education served as the President of the Society. Between 1941 and 1950, its presidents were the Ministers of National Education: Hasan Ali Yücel, Reşat Şemsettin Sirer, and Hasan Tahsin Banguoğlu. During this period, the recognition of the Society as a public benefit association was approved through:

  • the letter of the Ministry of Interior dated 12 April 1947, no. 82-175-265,

  • the decision of the General Assembly of the Council of State dated 7 July 1947, no. 47-102/123,

  • and the Council of Ministers decision dated 24 July 1947, no. 3/6216,
    and was promulgated with the signature of İsmet İnönü.

At the 3rd General Assembly held on 21 February 1952, Prof. Ali Macit Arda was elected President, and at the 8th General Assembly held on 14 December 1967, Prof. Cemal Arif Alagöz was elected President. According to Communiqué No. 7 published in the Official Gazette dated 12 September 1980 (No. 17103) by the National Security Council, the activities of associations were suspended. However, by the letter of the Martial Law Command of Ankara dated 15 July 1982, no. 1982/Der. Müt-109-10823, the continuation of the activities of the Geography Society Association was deemed unobjectionable and permission was granted for reopening.

At the 16th General Assembly held on 21 May 1987 in the Conference Hall of the Türk Tarih Kurumu in Ankara, Retired Prof. Dr. İsmail Yalçınlar was elected President, and on 23 December 1987, the headquarters of the Society was moved from Ankara to Istanbul. Subsequently, Prof. Dr. Metin Tuncel (20 May 1999), Assoc. Prof. Dr. İ. Yaşar Hacısalihoğlu (28 May 2001), and Assoc. Prof. Dr. T. Ahmet Ertek (10 January 2010) were elected as presidents. Currently, the presidency is held by Prof. Dr. Barbaros Gönençgil.

The activities of the Türk Coğrafya Kurumu include scientific congresses, professional weeks, geographical excursions and field studies, teacher workshops, professional study and research meetings, primary and secondary education project competitions, international geography olympiads, and publications such as the Turkish Journal of Geography and the Society’s own publication series.

The Society has been a member of the International Geographical Union (IGU) since 1949, and of EUROGEO since 2011.