TİKA’s Support for the Preservation of Manuscripts in Pakistan

A delegation comprising officials from the Directorate of State Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, the Manuscript Institution of Türkiye and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) conducted a preliminary working visit to Pakistan within the scope of collaborative projects to be carried out in the field of preservation of manuscripts in Pakistan.

As part of the 9-day visit coordinated by TİKA, a delegation comprising the Head of the Department of Manuscript Conservation and Archives at the Manuscript Institution of Türkiye, Dr. Nil Baydar; Mesut Demir, a researcher working at the Directorate of State Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, and officials from TİKA visited the National Library of Pakistan and the library of Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Punjab University Library and the Lahore Museum in Lahore, along with the Sindh Archives and the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi.

The delegation, who examined the manuscript collections during their visits, engaged in consultations with officials from these institutions regarding potential cooperation projects to preserve these invaluable works, which constitute humanity’s common cultural heritage, under improved conditions.

Within the scope of the Program for the Preservation of Manuscripts in Pakistan, which is to be launched this year by TİKA, it is planned initially to organize the “Technical Training in the Field of Preventive Preservation Measures” program in Istanbul. Subsequently, the necessary materials and equipment for preventive preservation measures will be provided by TİKA and delivered to the relevant Pakistani organizations, and on-site implementation studies will be carried out. In later stages, it is planned to rearrange the storage areas where the manuscripts will be preserved at Punjab University Library and to implement the “Active Conservation of Manuscripts Application Training Project” in Türkiye.