The International Institute of Social History launched its activities in the Middle East and Central Asia in 1987. In the early days, the Institute activities were limited to Turkey. However, by the early 1990s its geographic space was extended to Iran, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.
On Turkey, a wealth of sources at the International Institute of Social History provides context for the study of social history of Turkey, the Turkish Left, labour, and Turkish and Kurdish diaspora in Europe. This store of documents includes archives, books, pamphlets, and sound and video materials. For an extensive description see the Turkish Collections.
In the Caucasus, a considerably large collection of the Komintern - TKP (Communist International) archive's documents, related to the years 1921 - 1941 is archived, containing reports by various sectors of the Comintern and its agents in the region. Also the collection of legal and underground publications of the 'Communist Party of Turkey', 'Communist Party of Iran' and 'Revolutionary Committee of Iran' can be mentioned. Additionally, a collection from the archived documents of the Soviet government is available which outlines the Soviet state policy towards Iran and Afghanistan, and contains new information about the lives of migrant communities living in the margins of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.
More information is available on the collections and research in Central Asia and Iran, in both English and Persian.
Both the Arab Middle East and Middle East Central Asia collections can be found by searching the archival index by country.
Contact: Prof. Touraj Atabaki, tat@iisg.nl