Documents About Türkiye In The National Archives And The Importance Of These Documents

Abstract

Beginning in the late 16th century (during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and Sultan Murat III), Turkish-British relations have survived up to the present day despite going through many troubled periods. These relations which first started in the commercial field in the Eastern Mediterranean have covered a wide area over time. This network of relations has enabled the accumulation of many documents in the archives of both countries, which will be presented to the interest of researchers in the ongoing period. As a reflection of this network of relations, the British National Archives (The National Archives) has a very important resource value for local and foreign historians and researchers who want to conduct research on Turkish and British history. In these archives, there are hundreds of thousands of documents created by ambassadors, consuls, diplomats and bureaucrats of both countries, authorised officers, military intelligence units, occupation period high commissioners which were transferred to the British government units from the end of the 16th century until the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye and the period afterwards. These handwritten and printed documents contain many political, social, economic and military issues between the two countries. This situation is also valid in terms of the course of relations between the two countries during the period of the National Struggle and after the proclamation of the Republic. These documents, which have been classified and presented to the interest of researchers in different folders and some of which are made available online on the website of the institution, contain documents from different geographies of Türkiye and the world. The importance of the documents in the British National Archives in terms of Turkish history, the subjects they contain, the issues identified by the researchers who have previously examined these archives and the suggestions to young researchers have been written in order to guide those who want to conduct research in these archives.