Ms. Afelonne Doek, National Archivist of the Netherlands,

Mr. Muhammet Ahmet Tokdemir, President of the State Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye,

Members of the Dutch National Archives,

Dear Friends of History,

It is a pleasure for me to address to this distinguished audience.

A document is a living history. Archives are an indispensable culmination of historical records. They are instrumental for a wide range of reasons to solve historical disagreements, to promote peace as well as cooperation and friendship among nations.

The building we are here has immense archives on both nations. Our relations started in mid-16^th century, 1560 to be precise – if not earlier. A
cooperative relation first commenced with commercial ties established by Dutch tradesmen visiting Ottoman ports. Then in 1560 King Oranje sought the support of the Ottomans in their quest for independence from their Catholic Spanish Empire. Ottoman support extended to the Dutch Revolt is only one of the important historical connections between the two peoples. It was at that time that the motto “Liever Turks dan Paaps” ("Rather Turkish than Popish") was used first by the Dutch naval mercenaries, known as the “Sea Beggars” who were instrumental in the Relief of Leiden in 1574. Ottoman Sultan Selim II extended support via the Ottoman Navy attacking the Spanish in Tunisia in 1574 thereby relieving the Spanish military pressure in the Dutch provinces. With this slogan, the Dutch expressed their feeling against the Spanish by describing that life under the Ottoman Sultan would be more desirable than living under the Catholic King of Spain.

There is a long list of other striking historical connections. One of the most notable of those is the presence of the Testa Family in Istanbul since the mid-13^thcentury. First as traders in the Genoese colony of Galata, and then administrators at the colony, the skills of the Testa Family were quickly
recognized by the Ottomans after the Conquest of Istanbul in 1453. Members of the family in due course rose to prominent positions within the Empire’s administration as translators and mediators. The last member of the Testa Family to live in the Ottoman Empire was Gaspar Testa who was appointed by the Kingdom as envoy to the Ottoman Court in 1815.

In 1815, the Royal Minister of the Dutch Crown informed Sadrazam Hurşit Ahmet Paşa by a Letter of the Credentials for appointment of Gaspar Testa as envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands until the arrival of the new Dutch Ambassador who was to travel from the United States. The Dutch had requested to keep the Embassy active in the interim period with a view to maintain the relations with the Ottoman Empire. But the main reason was the turbulent times of the period for the Dutch so that in those critical period Dutch should be accepted by and represented in a friendly Empire.

While coming to the Netherlands I thought I need to come with a message from history. Our colleagues at the Presidency of the Turkish Archives found it. It was the Letter of Credentials regarding appointment of Gaspar Testa as the Dutch envoy in Istanbul sent to the Ottoman Court in 1815. It not only shows the historical significance of the centuries-old presence of the Testa Family in Istanbul, but also the importance attached by the Kingdom to its relations with the Ottomans. I was deposited this as a gift to be conveyed to His Majesty the King. I conveyed it at thepresentation of my credentials to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander on 15 February 2023. The second original copy of the Letter of Credentials of their ancestor was delivered to the distinguished descendants of the Testa Family yesterday. Third copy will be given as a present to the Dutch Archives today.

The Turkish Embassy in the Hague has always been and is still in close contact with the Testa Family. As I have said at the funeral of Prof. Alexander de Groot, we never forget our friends.

However, it was not only Gaspar Testa. The Testa family has always played an important role in the relations. Another ancestor, this time Baron Testa was the first chair of the Dutch-Turkish Association founded in 1934. Yesterday I also presented a copy of a correspondence between Baron Testa and one of my predecessors as well as translation of an article published by Baron Testa in “Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant” in 1935. These are at the unclassified archives of our Embassy and delivered to them yesterday. As two ex-Empires this shows the importance of archives for both of us. And that is why we are here today.

Cooperation among the national archives was not formalized so far in our extensive relationship. We recognized the need to remedy the lacking of this important link. After my arrival in The Hague in February of 2023 we started working on realizing this cooperation. The MOU between the State Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye and the National Archives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will be signed today, is significant for Turkish-Dutch institutional and academic relations.

The signing of this MOU not only coincides with the very first visit to the Netherlands by a Director of State Archives of Türkiye in the history of our institution, but also comes at a time when we are commemorating the 100^thanniversary of the signing of the Friendship Treaty between the Republic of Türkiye and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 16 August 1924. It was signed just over 9 months after the establishment of the modern Republic of Türkiye on 29 October 1923. That Friendship Treaty itself was very important since the Netherlands was one of the first 7 countries that had formally recognized the newly established Republic. We see this MOU as a first step in further developing Turkish-Dutch cooperation in this field. The extensive inventory of the State Archives of Türkiye is now digitalized. It facilitates the work of researchers, academics and historians from all over the world. We hope all Turkish and Dutch researchers will benefit from this MOU.

Before I conclude my remarks, I would like to extend my gratitude to the National Archivist of the Netherlands, Ms. Doek, Mr. Johan van Langen, Mr. Alexander Enzlin and Ms. Vera Furth at the National Archives of the Netherlands for their great cooperation in making this MOU as well the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Needless to say, I also wish to thank the President Tokdemir for his contributions and steering this project, as well as his predecessor Prof. Dr. Uğur Ünal who could be here today due to his new assignment. He asked to convey his best regards to all.

Thank you.