The head of the Turkish Historical Society (TTK), Professor Yüksel Özgen, said the institution will launch a Digital History Academy in January, allowing remote access to its archive and making public for the first time 470 rare photographs belonging to World War I commander Cemal Pasha.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Özgen underlined that the TTK serves both as a specialized library and as a major archive housing extensive and valuable collections.
Describing the Digital History Academy as the institution’s new online gateway, Özgen said: “We have reached the final stages of the platform, which will provide remote access to the TTK archive. It will be fully operational at the start of 2026. We are creating a platform where both general readers and field experts can more easily reach the academic knowledge produced by our institution.”
So far, the TTTK has uploaded 11,500 photographs to the system, Özgen said. He noted that the institution has also digitized 16,000 rare works and manuscripts and made them accessible to both researchers and the public.
“We recently shared nearly 6,500 electronic books in foreign languages with both the public and specialists,” he added.
Özgen said the platform to be opened in January will bring the entire digital archive under one roof. As part of the final preparations, the institution has digitized Cemal Pasha’s photo archive, which documents the Syria-Palestine Front during World War I.
“World War I was a struggle for the existence of the Turkish nation, fought on many fronts,” Özgen said. “Cemal Pasha was one of the key commanders of this war and an important figure in our history.”
He continued: “Today, we are making 470 rare photographs belonging to Cemal Pasha – one of the significant figures of our recent history – available to the public for the first time. These photographs were donated to our institution by his grandson in 1960. We digitized them and are carefully preserving the originals.”
The collection includes images from areas where Cemal Pasha served, especially the Syria-Palestine Front of World War I, offering historical data on social life, daily routines, wartime conditions and public services such as hospitals, Özgen said. The archive also features family photographs and snapshots of his daily life.
“Photographs are historical sources,” Özgen said. “By publishing them, we are providing substantial material for future academic research. The archive includes not only photographs but also other documents related to Cemal Pasha. Once the classification work is completed, we will make them available through our new platform as well.”
Özgen added that the TTK has also featured Cemal Pasha’s life in its 100-book “General Reader Series,” noting that Professor Nevzat Artuç’s newly published biography “Cemal Pasha” has drawn strong interest.
