The Importance of Archive and the Turkish Archives that Provide Archiving Services From the Old Civilizations to the Present

In this study, it is tried to be explained that an archival document does not only refer to paper materials; that all kinds of objects containing important information written, processed and recorded on are archival material, thus having the feature of leaving a message to next generations and being legal evidence. For this purpose, archives materials used from ancient civilizations to present is mentioned. The importance of the archives in terms of legal, social, cultural and economic aspects is underlined. The duties of the state and the archivist regarding the archiving work are explained. The organizations established throughout the history by the Turkish States in order to carry out the services related to the archiving works and processes are described in chronological order; it is also stated that they have set up legislation in this regard. The Turkish archives that provide archiving services at the present time, the archives materials they kept as well as the quality of these materials are discussed. It is explained that the archives documents should be available for researchers and public access, 30 years after the date of the final transaction or after 15 years if all transactions have been completed. It is also clarified that the archival documents which are still in process and whose preservation period is not yet completed cannot be opened to researc