The first tangible step towards the establishment of the Turkish Academy of Sciences was the preparation of the document entitled "Turkish Science and Technology Policy: 1983-2003", which was the first of its kind in Turkey. In 1993, the Supreme Council for Science and Technology, established in accordance with the above-mentioned document, decided that the Turkish Academy of Sciences (Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi - TÜBA) be established. The Academy was established on 2 September 1993 by a governmental decree, published in the Official Gazette. After constituting its administrative organs, TÜBA initiated its activities with its first Academy Council meeting, convened on January 7, 1994.

The Turkish Academy of Sciences has evolved, in line with its constitution, into an autonomous body which determines its organisational structure and activities on the principle of scientific merit. Its aims are to establish the criteria of scientific excellence in Turkey, to encourage and foster scientific endeavours, to ensure that scientific principles be applied in all spheres and to create an environment of debate so that basic social strategies may be defined in the light of scientific and technological data. The Academy is striving to promote adoption of and strict adherence to scientific ethics both by its own members and by the whole of the Turkish scientific community; freedom of expression; culture of debate and the integration of the Turkish science with the international scientific community.