From November 4 to 10, 2025, within the framework of targeted funding project “IRN: BR24993057 Fundamental Research of the Main and Subcategories of Political Repression Victims in Kazakhstan and their Complete Rehabilitation Processes,” a scientific business trip was organized to the city of Istanbul, Republic of Turkey
During the trip:
A meeting was held with the management of the Istanbul University Library. From the Turkish side participated Nuri Civelek, Director of the Central Library of Istanbul University, and Sonay Tahmaz Kalechi, Head of Department; from Kazakhstan, Sabyr Akhmetzhanovich Kasymov, Aliya Toymakhanovna Suleimenova, Almas Eshankulov, and Aysulu Umirbayeva. The purpose and objectives of the scientific project were discussed.
The main state archive holding the Ottoman Archives (Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivleri) in Istanbul was visited. The archive moved in 2013 to a new location in the Kağıthane district. A meeting was held with the archive director, Cevat Ekici, and his deputy, Mesut Demir. Copies of several documents were received. The electronic document search system and keyword search capabilities were demonstrated.
At the Istanbul University Library, work was conducted searching, identifying, and copying materials related to Kazakhstan’s 20th-century history. With the assistance of a translator, scientific research works and collections published in Turkish were reviewed.
Negotiations were held with Nurillah Çetin, author of a Turkish-language book about the famine in Kazakhstan and the “Kishi Kazan” program (1925–1933), to establish scientific cooperation.
Meetings and interviews were organized with representatives of the Kazakh diaspora in Turkey, and documents and books were received. Events took place in the building of the Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Istanbul, participated by diaspora members including Feyz Mehmet Jarqin, Abdulwahab Kılıç, Professor Abdulwahab Kara, Kadis Zalin, Erzhan Uays, Ilyas, Zhanimkhan Zhanaltay, Khadis Mukhametuly, Mansur Taiji Kusayynuly, Omer Taiji. Also present were Istanbul University history master’s student Aysulu Umirbayeva, Consul General’s advisor and Kazakh diaspora specialist Eldar Imankulov, and other consular staff.
During the meeting, Sabyr Akhmetzhanovich Kasymov, head of the Project Office of the State Commission for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions and Candidate of Legal Sciences, presented a report on the goals and objectives of the project and on the work and scientific results of the State Commission for the years 2020–2025.
Participants briefly shared the histories of their families.
