The Ottoman archives in Istanbul are fully open, and archives from the Republican period are available in the prime minister's Republican archives in Ankara.
The only archives not so readily available are those of the ministry of war. Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer has also announced that the archives of the presidential palace at Cankaya will also be opened for research.
I have been able to see every document I have asked for in some 40 years of doing research in these archives.
Why have we not heard more about the availability of the archives of the Republic of Armenia in Yerevan and of the Armenian nationalist archives held at the Zoryan Institute in Boston? Full access to these would be welcome.
Stanford J. Shaw
Professor of modern Turkish history
Bilkent University
Ankara, Turkey