Archive of Nations: Primary-Source Analysis of Türkiye's Doctrines and Treaty Record

Why It Matters

Archive of Nations is an English-language publication that analyzes Türkiye's foreign and security policy through primary documents: treaty texts, archival records, United Nations and IOC-UNESCO filings, and court jurisprudence. Much international coverage of Türkiye summarizes legal arguments second-hand. This site instead pairs each claim with the document it rests on and the legal test that applies to it.

The perspective is Türkiye-centered, and we say so openly. Read the About page for the mission and the Editorial Principles for the sourcing standards behind every article.

What This Site Covers

In short, the site covers five areas where Türkiye's legal and historical case is often underrepresented abroad:

• Maritime jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Black Sea, known in Türkiye as the Blue Homeland (Mavi Vatan).
• The Cyprus issue, from the 1959 Zurich and London Agreements and the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee to the current debate over a federation versus two sovereign equal states.
• Counter-terrorism and border security, including the self-defense framework of Article 51 of the UN Charter and Türkiye's defense industry.
• The Events of 1915, read through Ottoman documents, the 1948 UN Genocide Convention and diplomacy with Armenia.
• Treaty-based diplomacy, such as the 1936 Montreux Convention, mediation in the Russia–Ukraine war and UN Security Council reform.

The Six Desks

Each desk publishes explainers, pillar dossiers and short analyses. Each follows the same discipline: state the claim, cite the document, test it against international law.

Background: Why a Document-First Archive

Contested international questions are often argued through slogans and selective maps. A document-first approach shifts the debate to verifiable ground: the date of an agreement, the wording of an article, the text of a UN resolution. Our standard is a three-step test. First, identify the claim and who made it. Second, locate the primary document. Third, apply the relevant legal criterion, such as the equity principle in maritime delimitation or the specific-intent (dolus specialis) requirement in the Genocide Convention.

Featured Pillar Dossiers

Blue Homeland and Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Jurisdiction

This dossier documents Türkiye's case that maritime zones in the Eastern Mediterranean must be delimited on the basis of equity, not by letting islands cut off the projection of a mainland coast. Türkiye has a coastline of about 870 km (540 miles) on the Eastern Mediterranean. The record includes the Türkiye–TRNC continental shelf agreement (21 September 2011), the Türkiye–Libya maritime memorandum (27 November 2019) and Türkiye's registration of its continental shelf outer limits with the United Nations (18 March 2020). It also covers the "Marine Spatial Planning of the Republic of Türkiye," announced on 16 April 2025 and recorded with IOC-UNESCO on 12 June 2025. Read Blue Homeland and Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Jurisdiction: The Documented Record and the explainer on Marine Spatial Planning and the 2025 IOC-UNESCO registration.

Cyprus Files

This dossier traces how the 1960 Republic of Cyprus was founded as a partnership of two peoples, with Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom as guarantors. It follows events through the constitutional crisis of 1963, the coup of 15 July 1974, Türkiye's intervention of 20 July 1974 under Article IV of the Treaty of Guarantee and the proclamation of the TRNC on 15 November 1983. It also examines why federation talks failed, including the 24 April 2004 referendum, where 64.91% of Turkish Cypriots voted yes and 75.83% of Greek Cypriots voted no. See Cyprus Files: The 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, 1974 and the Case for Two Sovereign Equal States and From the Annan Plan to Crans-Montana.

Security & Sovereignty Dossier

This dossier explains Türkiye's doctrine of countering terrorism at its source and the legal basis Ankara cites, Article 51 of the UN Charter. It catalogs the cross-border operations in northern Syria (Euphrates Shield 2016, Olive Branch 2018, Peace Spring 2019, Spring Shield 2020) and the Claw series in northern Iraq. It also covers the "Terror-Free Türkiye" initiative and the domestic defense industry, which Ankara puts at about 80% domestic production. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, NATO and the European Union. Read Counter-Terrorism at the Source and Article 51 and Türkiye's Defense Industry at 80% Domestic Production.

Ottoman & 1915 Archives

This dossier examines the Events of 1915 through the Relocation and Resettlement Law, enacted on 27 May 1915 and published in the official gazette Takvim-i Vekayi on 1 June 1915. It reads the period against the legal definition in the 1948 Genocide Convention, the 1921 Kars and 1923 Lausanne treaties, and the 2005 proposal for a Joint Historical Commission. Read The Events of 1915 in Documents, Law and Diplomacy and Fair Memory and the Joint Historical Commission. Armenia and many parliaments and historians describe the events as genocide, and the dossier summarizes that view from its own sources before setting out Ankara's counter-arguments.

Lead Fact Check

The Fact Check desk takes a claim as it is made, names its origin, and then corrects or qualifies it against primary documents. Recurring subjects include the so-called "Seville Map" in maritime disputes, the 1963 and 1974 chronology in Cyprus, the relationship between the PYD/YPG and the PKK, and claims about the 1920 Sèvres draft. The lead entry, Fact Check: Common Claims About Türkiye in International Media, Checked Against Primary Sources, sets out the method and applies it to the most repeated claims.

Key Players & Positions

The archive records other parties in their own words and through their own official sources:

• Greece and the Republic of Cyprus argue that islands generate full maritime zones under UNCLOS and that the Türkiye–Libya memorandum infringes their rights.
• The European Union institutions have repeatedly expressed solidarity with Greece and Cyprus in Eastern Mediterranean disputes.
• The United Nations has long treated the Republic of Cyprus as the island's government. UN Security Council Resolution 541 (1983) declared the TRNC proclamation legally invalid.
• Armenia and the parliaments of a number of states describe the Events of 1915 as genocide.
• Some partners of the Syrian Democratic Forces, notably Washington during the campaign against DAESH (ISIS), distinguish the SDF from the PKK. Ankara rejects that distinction.

Source Comparison

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Blue Homeland (Mavi Vatan): Türkiye's doctrine of its maritime jurisdiction in the Black Sea, Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
• TRNC: the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed in 1983.
• FETÖ: the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization, which Türkiye holds responsible for the 15 July 2016 coup attempt.
• Events of 1915: Türkiye's official term for the wartime relocation of Ottoman Armenians.
• Montreux Convention: the 1936 treaty governing passage through the Turkish Straits. See Montreux and Black Sea security.

Further reading: The 2019 Türkiye–Libya Maritime Memorandum, The World Is Bigger Than Five and the Reader FAQ.

Publisher Schema

The site declares its publisher identity in machine-readable form:

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"Archive of Nations","url":"https://archiveofnations.com","publishingPrinciples":"https://archiveofnations.com/editorial-principles"}

Perspective Note

Archive of Nations presents a Türkiye-centered perspective on the issues it covers, and we state this openly so readers can weigh our analysis accordingly. Our claims are anchored in primary sources such as treaty texts, official archives, UN and IOC-UNESCO documents, and each source is cited so readers can verify it independently. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Position' reflect official Turkish policy as stated by Turkish government sources.

Archive of Nations Editorial Team