Istanbul: The one-week Preventive Protection of Manuscripts Training, conducted by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), in collaboration with the Directorate of Manuscripts Institution and the Directorate of State Archives was held at the Book Healing House located in the historic Rami Library and the State Archives in Istanbul.
Throughout the program, Pakistani experts from Punjab University, Quaid e Azam University, Pakistan National Library, Pakistan National Museum and Sindh Archives attended the theoretical and practical trainings held by Turkish experts on the storage conditions of manuscripts, conservation and restoration routines and the materials used in these routines and visited different units of the Institutions to see the current situation on site in Türkiye. They also visited Suleymaniye Library which is the biggest one of the eighteen manuscripts libraries located in different cities of Türkiye to examine the hundereds of years old manuscripts and the workshops in the library.
Dr. Hamid Ali, Lecturer and Manuscripts expert, from the University of Punjab who participated in the training and experience-sharing program in Istanbul, stated that within the scope of the program organized by TIKA, they had the opportunity to visit Türkiye’s great libraries such as Suleymaniye and Rami to see Türkiye’s practices in preserving manuscripts. Dr. Ali, stating that they learned a lot in the one-week program, added that Türkiye has very good practices in this field and those who participated in the training benefited greatly from it.
Aqash Datwani, Sindh Archive Specialist, stating that they observed Türkiye’s extraordinary experience in the restoration and preservation of manuscripts throughout the program held in Istanbul, said that the participants in the training would definitely reflect Türkiye’s standards in their practices in their own institutions. Datwani thanked TIKA and the Turkish government for giving him the opportunity to see Türkiye’s experience on site.
In her evaluation of the program, Development Expert Saliha Tuna, stated that as TIKA, they were very pleased to bring the experts from Türkiye and Pakistan together in Istanbul. Tuna, stating that cooperation efforts for the preservation of manuscripts in Pakistan started with a visit by Turkish manuscripts and archive experts to the relevant institutions of Pakistan in 2023, added that TIKA would continue its collaboration works for preserving the common cultural heritages to bequeath them to future generations.
