Diplomatic Passport Ledger
Diplomatic Passport Ledger
The “Pasaport Defteri” is a distinctive register employed by a Turkish diplomatic institution between 1947 and 1955. This ledger meticulously records the issuance of diplomatic passports, featuring handwritten entries that detail the names, positions, and dates of issue for each recipient. Notably, original photographs of the passport holders are affixed directly onto its pages. The register encompasses a diverse array of individuals, including diplomats, high-ranking officials, military attachés, and other official Turkish representatives of that era, as well as their children. These individuals were stationed across various Turkish embassies and consulates worldwide, mirroring Turkey’s diplomatic engagements during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
This diplomatic passport ledger serves as a valuable historical artifact, offering insights into Turkey’s diplomatic bureaucracy and international relations in the post-World War II period. It reflects the nation’s efforts to establish and maintain diplomatic ties globally during a transformative era in international politics. Documents from the Turkish Diplomatic Archives, spanning 1919 to 1958 and covering relations with various countries, have been digitized and are accessible through the State Archives’ Document Search System (BETSIS). These records are available in catalog format at https://katalog.devletarsivleri.gov.tr and as digital images at research halls in Ankara and Istanbul.
For researchers interested in exploring such diplomatic records, the Turkish Diplomatic Archives’ website (http://diad.mfa.gov.tr/default.tr.mfa) provides access to the BETSIS system. While the English version of the site was pending as of August 2019, the Turkish version is operational. Additionally, the Turkish Law on Right to Information, enacted in 2004, grants researchers the right to request access to diplomatic records, facilitating scholarly exploration of Turkey’s diplomatic history.
Sample pages Diplomatic Passport Ledger
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