Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced that Türkiye’s manuscript inventory has surpassed 784,000, marking a historic milestone in the country’s cultural heritage. With more than 13 million digital views recorded, Türkiye’s vast manuscript collection is drawing increasing global attention.
The achievement was highlighted during the opening of the “Guardian of Our Past: A. Süheyl Ünver” exhibition at Rami Library, where this rich heritage has been brought into public view. Thanks to the digitization, restoration and publishing efforts of the Manuscripts Institution of Türkiye, hundreds of thousands of works have been made accessible to the academic world, while millions of users worldwide have engaged with the collection online.
Sharing details of the institution’s digitization works, Ersoy stated that the Manuscripts Institution of Türkiye (TÜYEK) manages one of the largest manuscript collections in the world, comprising more than 784,000 manuscripts and rare printed works. He noted that the institution’s digital platform includes bibliographic records for 640,000 works, while 483,600 manuscripts have been made accessible with digital images, making it one of the most comprehensive manuscript databases globally.
“TÜYEK’s digital corpus has nearly 27,000 registered users, while the number of visitors has reached 1.15 million. The works on the site have been viewed 5.218 million times. With total page views exceeding 13 million, this has become one of the strongest indicators that our cultural heritage is receiving global attention,” Ersoy said.
Noting that the efforts go beyond preservation, Ersoy underlined that extensive cataloguing, digitization and scholarly publishing activities have resulted in the creation of a vast corpus. Works spanning a wide range of fields from literature and history to law and medicine, as well as Islamic sciences, mathematics and astronomy have been republished through translation, critical editions and facsimile methods.
As a result of the works, a comprehensive collection totaling 357 volumes and 244,194 pages has been introduced to the academic world. Ersoy also noted that these publications are available free of charge in e-book format, attracting strong interest from both academic circles and the general public.
As for the conservation, Ersoy mentioned the restoration center established at Rami Library as a model facility in the field. He stated that approximately 5,000 works have been restored to date, while tens of thousands more have undergone maintenance, cleaning and preservation processes, placing the center in a significant international position in terms of manuscript conservation.
He added that through ongoing publication efforts, works by prominent figures such as Imam Bukhari, Ibn Sina, Ibn Khaldun, Mevlana, Fuzuli, Baki and Matrakçı Nasuh have been reintroduced to the academic world. Within the scope of the “1001 Works Project,” the masterpieces of this civilization are being brought to light once again, and through facsimile and translation studies, they are being made accessible not only to scholars but to all segments of society.
Süheyl Ünver archive
The exhibition also highlights the multifaceted legacy of A. Süheyl Ünver. Ersoy emphasized that Ünver was not only a physician but also a custodian of cultural memory. He recalled that in 1974, Ünver donated nearly 1,800 notebooks, 1,250 files, 108 personal belongings and numerous archival materials to the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, forming a unique archive that reflects the memory of a civilization.
Noting that Ünver was among the few scholars to hold the title of “Ordinaryüs Professor,” Ersoy said he received numerous national and international awards. Ünver was honored with the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award in 2016 and was also recognized by the Culture Ministry in 1985.
Ersoy also announced new projects to be launched as part of the exhibition, including a special book dedicated to A. Süheyl Ünver, which will be published soon. He added that commemorative programs featuring experts will be organized throughout the exhibition, and significant works in the field of traditional Turkish arts have also been included in the publication program.
