Perceived silence in the turkish archives: From the ottoman empire to modern republic

Abstract

Lale Özdemir and Oguz Icimsoy explain that Turkey presents a more positive picture. Like many countries, it established a national archival structure in the nineteenth century. However, there are some issues. Lack of resources meant that some records of the Ottoman period have not survived, while there was a long gap between the move to a republican form of government in 1923 and the establishment of an archive to hold the republic’s records. Like many countries, no born-digital records have yet been transferred to the archives and, while the country has Freedom of Information legislation, this does not apply to archived documents. While a legal framework for recordkeeping exists, the absence of a stand-alone public records or archival act with enforcement powers may prove problematic in the future. This is especially true given the fact that the Turkish State Archives is yet to provide advocacy with regard to the processes that lead to the transfer of born-digital material, including appraisal and sensitivity review. © 2021 selection and editorial matter Michael Moss and David Thomas; individual chapters, the contributors.