# Directorate of State Archives

In Turkey, the Directorate of State Archives (Turkish: Devlet Arşivleri Başkanlığı) was established in 1984 as an institution according to the Prime Ministry Organization Law No. 3056 to control the Republic Archives, Ottoman Archives and Departmental Documentations.

## History

In 1922, the Reservoir of Documents (Turkish: Mahzen-i Evrak Mümeyyizliği) was established in Istanbul, affiliated to Directorate of the Board of Chief Executive Offices (İcra Vekilleri Heyeti Başkanlığı). Its name was changed to the Examining Office of Document Resources (Hazine-i Evrak Mümeyyizliği) in 1923. In 1927, it became affiliated to the Prime Undersecretariat (Başvekâlet Müsteşarlığı) under the name of Managing Office of Document Resources (Hazine-i Evrak Müdür Muavinliği). In May 1933, pursuant to the Organization Law, the Document Management (Evrak Müdürlüğü) in Ankara and the Document Resources Management (Hazine-i Evrak Müdürlüğü) in Istanbul were merged under the name of Prime Documents and Document Resources Management (Başvekâlet Evrak ve Hazine-i Evrak Müdürlüğü). In 1937, the name of the Document Resources Office was changed into the Archives Department Management (Arşiv Dairesi Müdürlüğü). In 1943, the General Directorate of Public Archives (Başvekâlet Arşiv Umum Müdürlüğü) was established.
In 1976, the Republic Archives Department (Cumhuriyet Arşivi Dairesi Başkanlığı) was established under the Prime Ministry Undersecretariat (Başbakanlık Müsteşarlığı). According to the Law No. 3473, the task of this department was to record documents related to different governmental organizations and institutions after the establishment of the republic, including the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and to keep an archive of documents related to the Turkish War of Independence and other historical events preceding the republic era (see Ottoman Archives). On 10 July 2018, it became affiliated with the Presidential Office with the Presidential Decree No. 1 and its name was changed to the "Directorate of State Archives".

## List of general managers and presidents

| No. | Name | Tenure started | Tenure ended |
| Documents Examiner ||||
| 1 | Mahmut Nedim Bey | 1925 | 23 May 1933 |
| Documents Manager ||||
| 1 | Hıfzı Berkan | 23 May 1933 | 16 February 1938 |
| Archives Department Manager ||||
| 1 | Halid Altan | 16 February 1938 | 29 June 1943 |
| Archives Public Managers ||||
| 1 | Kenan Tuna | 29 June 1943 | 28 April 1956 |
| 1 | Prof. Dr. Halil Demircioğlu (acting) | 28 April 1956 | 18 April 1960 |
| 1 | Mithat Sertoğlu | 18 April 1960 | 15 August 1973 |
| Archives General Managers ||||
| 1 | Fazıl Işıközlü | 15 August 1973 | 15 October 1974 |
| 1 | Rukiye Bulut (acting) | 15 October 1974 | 3 January 1975 |
| 1 | Feyyaz Gürkan | 3 January 1975 | 28 December 1978 |
| 1 | Prof. Dr. Nejat Göyünç (acting) | 28 December 1978 | 27 January 1980 |
| 1 | Atilla Çetin (acting) | 27 January 1980 | 13 May 1980 |
| 1 | Lütfü Ergün (acting) | 13 May 1980 | 30 February 1981 |
| 1 | Bahaddin Alpkan (acting) | 30 February 1981 | 14 May 1985 |
| State Archives General Managers ||||
| 1 | Haluk Pekar (acting) | 14 May 1985 | 11 May 1987 |
| 1 | Prof. Dr. İsmet Miroğlu (acting) | 11 May 1987 | 13 February 1992 |
| 1 | İsmet Binark | 13 February 1992 | 5 August 1997 |
| 1 | İsa Özkul | 5 August 1997 | 8 September 2000 |
| 1 | Prof. Dr. Yusuf Sarinay | 8 September 2000 | 5 January 2012 |
| 1 | Prof. Dr. Uğur Ünal | 5 January 2012 | 10 July 2018 |
| State Archives President ||||
| 1 | Prof. Dr. Uğur Ünal | 8 August 2018 | Incumbent |