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ISTANBUL: Turkish History Foundation maintains Turkey's memory

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  • ISTANBUL: Turkish History Foundation maintains Turkey's memory

    Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
    March 1 2013

    Turkish History Foundation maintains Turkey's memory

    ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

    Turkish History Foundation has been preserving Turkish history. The
    resource only opens its doors to academics and researchers who fulfill
    certain procedures

    The Turkish History Foundation (TTK), established in 1931 by the
    founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, has been
    keeping important documents and photos related to Ottoman and Turkish
    history for the past 82 years.

    Only officials are allowed to enter the archive, where personal
    documents and photos are also kept. Among these documents are private
    collections belonging to Atatürk and Ottoman military officer Enver
    Pasha; the Külliyat'ı Kalavin (Ottoman Judiciary System); a copy of
    the diary kept by Dr. Akil Muhtar on Atatürk's disease; the secret
    writings of Turkey's first prime minister Ä°smet Ä°nönü; the activities
    of Turkish general Kazım Orbay, Enver Pasha and their friends between
    1914 and 1918; the notes of Professor Süheyl Ã`nver on cultural history
    and many of his oil paintings; documents related to the Ottoman grand
    vizier Tevfik Pasha and the March 31 incident, as well as the Hatay
    and Armenian incidents.

    Speaking to Anatolia news agency, TTK President Professor Mehmet Metin
    Hülagü said the building has housed the TTK for 45 years and is home
    to a library of some 100,000 books.

    `Turkish and foreign academics as well as organizations and
    institutions are taking advantage of the library. The library keeps
    widely accessible books as well as ones that cannot be found
    elsewhere. You can find books here that you cannot find in other
    libraries. We also have nearly 20,000 rare works and 1,800
    manuscripts. Among those are the one and only copies of works that
    were written in the 1600's.'

    According to Hülagü, only workers are allowed to enter the library.
    However, researchers can read library documents in the library's hall
    or the additional section apart from the reading room.

    Researchers can request books or documents open to research by
    delivering written forms after following certain procedures.

    Upon obtaining the form, an official brings the document through an
    elevator from the labyrinthine library in the lower floor of the
    reading room, Hükagü added.

    Family tree of prophets

    Manuscripts and rare books are kept in a locked section monitored by
    security cameras, according to Hülagü.

    `We are preparing to transfer rare books and manuscripts to a digital
    environment. We want to finish it within a short time and share it
    with the public. There are some 800 manuscripts here in various
    languages. Among them is a 40-folder work written by an Ottoman
    citizen of Armenian origin including judiciary arrangements and
    regulations in the Ottoman period between 1500 and 1908. A nine-meter
    document on the family trees of prophets from Mohammed to Adam written
    by Yusuf Bin Abdullatif in the 1700's is a very important document and
    has no other copy. But current opportunities do not enable us to
    display these documents. Since these works are heavily worn, we want
    researchers and academics not to touch them with their bare hands.
    They can touch them with plastic gloves only. Most of the manuscripts
    are in the Ottoman language. If citizens apply to us, we can make a
    protocol with them, give them a copy and in this way they can be
    published. Then the risk of losing these documents will disappear.'

    In addition to the library, TTK also has a private archive section,
    the key of which is granted to an archive worker who is not allowed to
    enter the section alone. The archive keeps the private collections,
    documents and photos of Atatürk, Ottoman sultans, generals, statesmen
    and artists.

    This section also keeps documents such as newspaper clippings on
    Atatürk and gravures of the Ottoman dynasty. `Our archive also has the
    letters owned by Turkey's first female parliamentarian Benal N.
    Arıman's father Tevfik Nevzat, the secret writings between Enver Pasha
    and his friends, the first edition of Hakimiyet-i Milliye newspaper,
    the writings of Ä°smet Ä°nönü, old photos of various Turkish provinces,
    photos from Israel and Palestine, etc,' Hülagü said.

    Researchers from abroad

    Hülagü said that those who want to conduct research in the archive
    could apply personally or through the postal service by clarifying
    their identity information, address, aim and topic of research.

    `For foreign researchers, these applications can be made through
    Turkish embassies or consulate generals abroad. The applications are
    sent to the TTK through the Foreign Ministry. Personnel from public or
    private institutions should also bring a document of approval from
    their institution.

    Reservations are necessary for research and researchers cannot demand
    new documents without returning the ones they have,' Hülagü said.
    March/01/2013

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-history-foundation-maintains-turkeys-memory.aspx?pageID=238&nID=42066&NewsCatID=341




    From: A. Papazian
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