Changes in the Form of the Documents Caused by the Alphabet Reform, in Turkey: Examination of the Intrinsic Elements of the Archival Records in the Light Of Diplomatics Methodology

Abstract

The Turkish Republic has developed some of the traditions and applications taken over from the Ottoman Empire and changed many others with the reforms they realized. it is of no doubt that the alphabet reform is one of them. While the effect of this reform on the fields like education, libraries and press has been dealt with many times, the modifications on the documents have been underestimated. The analysis of the documents in the light of diplomatic methodology is essential for the archivists, diplomatists, jurists and the historians. They may come to understand the authenticity and originality of the documents they use and appraise by criticizing the period in which they were produced and the characteristics they have. The aim of the article is to elicit the modifications to the forma! characteristics of the correspondences caused by the alphabet reform. In this article, the examples of the correspondences dating back to 1928 and the early 1930s, the year Turkey accepted Latin alphabet, have been examined within the scope of diplomatic methodology.