Institute for Turkish Studies (ITS), was founded in the Dutch city of Utrecht in 2010. The idea for a Turkish knowledge center was created years before, however, when events in 2005 proved there was a desperate need for it. This need became even stronger when the faculty of Arabic, New Persian and Turkish (ANPT) at Utrecht University was abolished.

Ever since ANPT was discontinued, young students have had a hard time grasping the nature of Turkish Studies. This can hardly be called surprising because most documents about Turkish Studies are only available in Turkish. Because there are no bachelor studies Turkology / Turkish Studies offered in the Netherlands, scientists and journalists have only been able to use a very small fragment of literature related to it. As a result, their writings about Turkey, Turkish history and the Turkish people leave much to be desired.

Hence, a need existed for an institute that could use Turkish, Dutch and English sources, and publish articles and books in all three languages. Additionally, it must be pointed out that knowledge of Old Turkish, Ottoman Turkish and other Turkish dialects is, if not necessary, than at least preferable. The same goes for German, French and perhaps even other languages. Keeping the aforementioned in mind, it became clear that the scientific and journalistic communities would benefit greatly from the creation of an objective institute. Since there are enough students and young scientists who have mastered the aforementioned languages, we should be able to fill this void.

Because of the reasons mentioned above, the need and demand for an institute grew. In 2010 the institute many dreamed of was founded when the 'Instituut for Turkse Studies' (Institute for Turkish Studies, ITS) was finally registered at the Chamber of Commerce. In the course of that year, the newly created institute began her activities and started to bridge the gap that existed between the  Dutch and international academic communities.