Sleep medicine studies in our country started when the young Physicians trained by Dr ismet Karacan – one of the founders of this branch in the world- returned the country and started to deal with sleep medicine.
In this period, the first sleep medicine studies were carried out by Dr. Erbil Gözükırmızı, Dr. Hamdullah Aydın, Dr. Sadık Ardıç and a few other Physicians. At this time, the first core of Turkish Sleep Medicine Society was established, when the Sleep Research Society was found at Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine. The Society completed the organization very quickly and soon gained a national identity. In 1997, it was named as Turkish Sleep Research Society by the decision of the Council of Ministers. In the following period, the Turkish Sleep Research Society became the most important and involved professional and scientific organization of this branch of medicine in the country. As a result of these developments, the name of society was changed to Turkish Sleep Medicine Society at the statute assembly held in 2007. The Presidents of the Association until today are as follows; Prof. Dr. Erbil Gözükırmızı, Prof. Dr. Hakan Kaynak, Assoc. Dr. Sadık Ardıç, Prof. Dr. Derya Karadeniz and Prof. Dr. Murat Aksu respectively. Turkish Sleep Medicine Society currently represents the country in the international arena as a member of European Sleep Research Society, Asian Sleep Research Society and World Sleep Medicine Association. It is a remarkable society with its participatory and inclusive nature and it has an organizational structure that aims to implement sleep medicine practices in accordance with world standards.
