Ottoman archives gathered in Istanbul site

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Prime Minister Erdoğan (C) opens the National Archive Site in Istanbul. DHA Photo

A National Archive Site for Ottoman documents was opened in Istanbul on June 2 with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Built by Turkey’s Housing Development Administration (TOKİ), the site is to host about 370,000 notebooks, 100 million documents, including imperial ordinances, and agreements published during Ottoman times.

The site was developed as part of a protocol made between TOKİ and the State Archives Directorate General.

The National Archive Site consists of 13 units including an administrative building, a research hall with a 350-person capacity, a research institute, library, museum and units for digital archiving, restoration, promotion and social service.

Also, it has a congress center with a 800-person capacity. At the site, there are 200 study rooms, 120 depots, three major multipurpose meeting rooms and five seminar rooms. Some 1,000 people will be employed in the site.

The site, which occupies 57,000 square meters of land, also provides the optimal air-conditioning that is essential for preserving and classifying the documents in a healthy way. Also, air-conditioning, moisturizing and alarm systems were established on showcases.