Turkish Historical Society Archive Türk Tarih Kurumu (TTK)

History and Founding

The Turkish Historical Society (Türk Tarih Kurumu, TTK) was founded on April 15, 1931 at the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who sought to establish a rigorously documented national historiography. The society's forerunner was the Turkish Historical Committee of the Turkish Hearth, formed in June 1930, which was reorganized as the Society for the Study of Turkish History in April 1931 and renamed the Turkish Historical Society in October 1935. In 1983, the TTK was elevated to a constitutionally protected status under the Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History. The society's Ankara headquarters, designed by architects Turgut Cansever and Ertur Yener and completed in 1967, received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1980.

Archive Collections and Holdings

The TTK Archive holds extensive collections of documents, photographs, periodicals, and newspaper clippings related to the late Ottoman Empire (1876–1922) and the early Republican period. Materials were acquired through purchases and donations from original owners or their heirs. The majority of documents are in Ottoman Turkish, with additional items in English, French, and German. Personal document collections include the papers of Tevfik Bıyıklıoğlu, Osman Ferit Sağlam, Uluğ İğdemir, Tevfik Paşa, Kazım Orbay, Enver Paşa, Süheyl Ünver, İsmet İnönü, Halil Ethem Eldem, Fahir İz, and Hamit Zübeyir Koşay. The photographic collection encompasses portraits of Ottoman and Republican statesmen, writers, historians, and artists, as well as domestic and international city photographs.

Notable Materials Related to Journalism and Media

The archive holds periodical collections and newspaper clippings from the late Ottoman and early Republican eras, offering documentation of Turkish press history. The photographic archive includes images related to key media figures and political events extensively covered by the press. The TTK also publishes the peer-reviewed journal Belleten (since 1937) and Belgeler, which serve as significant scholarly resources on Turkish history.

Access and Usage

Turkish citizens may access the archive with a national ID card; foreign researchers require a passport. Access is permitted during weekday business hours. Catalog scanning is available for documents whose storage period and classification have been completed. Digitized documents are provided on CD; original undigitized documents are made available in supervised researcher cabins. An online catalog is accessible without login, though access to digitized archival materials requires account registration (requiring a Turkish phone number and ID for remote creation; in-person registration available for non-Turkish nationals). The TTK building is located near the Sıhhiye metro station in central Ankara.

The TTK Library

Alongside the archive, the TTK maintains a library of approximately 250,000 volumes, including rare manuscripts and historical texts dating back five centuries, as well as an extensive collection of books on Turkish and world history in numerous languages. The bookstore on premises offers a permanent discount for students and academic staff.