As one of the significant indicators of the long-established state tradition of the Republic of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan celebrated the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Official Gazette and said, “In a sense, the Official Gazette is the ‘memory of the state’ and ‘certificate of the transparent administrative approach’.”
In his message on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Official Gazette, a significant indicator of the long-established state tradition of the Republic of Turkey, President Erdoğan celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Official Gazette.
In his message, “The Official Gazette, which has shared with the nation the legislative, executive and judicial affairs of our country and the transactions that have entered into force since the foundation of the Republic, from the opening of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to the War of Independence, has played a historic role in this respect. Stating that “In a sense, the Official Gazette is the “memory of the state” and the certificate of the “transparent administrative approach”, President Erdoğan said, “On the symbolic anniversary of the Official Gazette, turning 100 years old, I express my pleasure at the implementation of a meaningful project such as translating the issues published in Ottoman Turkish into modern Turkish during the period of War of Independence and in the first years of the Republic, and I congratulate those who have exerted efforts so far in the Official Gazette.”
Special project for the 100th year
Directorate General of Law and Legislation of the Directorate of Presidential Administrative Affairs of the Republic of Turkey carried out a special project on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Official Gazette established on October 7, 1920.
Within the scope of the project, the first 1,053 issues of the Official Gazette that were published in Ottoman Turkish for 8 years until November 1, 1928, when the Law on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet came into force, were translated into modern Turkish.
7,000 pages were translated into modern Turkish
The translation of the original documents which appear in the website archive of the Official Gazette is accessible from the “Modern Turkish” link which will be launched as of today.
With the translation of the first 1,053 issues, which consisted of nearly 7,000 pages, into modern Turkish, it became possible for everyone interested in that period, especially lawyers and historians, to access all issues starting from the first issue to that of the present day.
Some important events covered by the issues of the Official Gazette, which were translated into modern Turkish, consist of the following:
- Acceptance of the National Anthem, namely, the sign of the War of Independence, in the Official Gazette numbered 7 and published in 1921.
- Ratification of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, published in the Official Gazette numbered 22 in 1923.
- Articles published in the foreign press regarding the foreign developments of the period in the Unofficial sections, included in the annex of the Official Gazettes numbered 22 and 27 published in September 1923.
- Remittance of the tithe included in the Official Gazette numbered 84 and was published in 1925.
- Adoption of the Turkish Penal Code, the Turkish Civil Code, and the Code of Obligations, which constitute the basis of the modern legal system published in the Official Gazettes numbered 320, 339, and 366 in 1926.
- Adoption of the Industrial Promotion Law, published in the Official Gazette numbered 608 in 1927.