Turkish aid agency inaugurates Ottoman Era Archive project in Noth Macedonia

A ceremony was held by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) after the completion of the Ottoman Era Archive Department Establishment, Furnishing, and Equipping Project at the North Macedonia State Archive.

Under the scope of the project, TIKA installed corporate archive data central storage device and external disks, laptop and desktop work computers, and the only microfilm scanner device in North Macedonia public institutions used in archiving works, as well as the necessary computer unit, archive book scanner, and printing plotter device.

The ceremony was attended by TİKA Deputy President Mahmut Çevik and North Macedonian State Archives Director Emil Krsteski, as well as TIKA officials, representatives of Turkish institutions and organizations in the country, and other guests.

'We will start shedding light on the future'

In his statement to the press, TIKA Vice President Çevik said that the Ottoman Empire developed a lifestyle in this region for about 500 years and that more than 16,000 tangible and intangible cultural heritages have been built since then. Pointing out that they protect the common history of the two countries together, Çevik went on to add: "We will begin to shed light on the future by carrying out the renovation, equipment, and capacity development of an Ottoman-era archive unit, which was established for the first time." said.

Pointing out that these efforts have been ongoing for the last 18 years in order to unearth the Ottoman archives, documents, registers, and notebooks of that period, turn them over to future generations and present them to users, Çevik emphasized that, with the establishment of this unit, they will be able to work even more rigorously.

Çevik noted that they carried out work on the Ottoman Era archives in three phases.

"In the first stage, we make an assessment within the framework of experts in the meetings held between the parties, by which institution, by which organization, and in what way. Then, Turkish experts come to the project country and consult with their interlocutors, just as they did here in the past, and determine their work areas and action plans. After that, the needs We are starting a study at the point of supplying the equipment and equipment needed, both in terms of reading and in terms of counting, the machines and equipment needed. After that, these census studies, and image-taking studies begin. Most importantly, we are also at the point of preserving these archives we have obtained and transferring them to future generations," added Çevik.

"Precautions are taken and these images are transferred to digital media. I think that more than 150 thousand images have been obtained so far. More than 30-40 thousand documents have been examined in North Macedonia," continued Çevik.

Krsteski, Director of the State Archives of North Macedonia, said that he promised to open a unit for the Ottoman era as soon as he was appointed head of the said institution.