Purpose/Activities

 

The Orient Institute in Istanbul (OII) is an independent research institution mandated by the foundation German Institutes of Humanities Abroad (DGIA). Established in 1989, the Orient Institute in Istanbul (OII) initially functioned as a branch of the Orient Institute in Beirut (OIB), and became an independent academic institution in 2009. The Orient Institute in Beirut (OIB), for its part, originally was established by the German Oriental Society (DMG) with the support of the then Federal Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT, today BMBF), the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Volkswagen Foundation.

The Orient Institute in Istanbul (OII) carries out historical and contemporary research on Islamic, Mediterranean and Turkish cultures (Turcology and the Ottoman period).

 

Priority subjects of the OI in Istanbul are:

basic research and studies in the plurality of Turkish languages and peoples,

Ottoman history and the dynamic development of the region,

minorities in the Ottoman Empire

migration.

 

In particular the OI in Istanbul:

does basic research in the fields of Turkish, Ottoman, Central Asian, Islamic and Iranian studies with a view to promoting co-operation between local and foreign researchers,

coordinates research projects and holds conferences on related subjects,

conducts a range of projects on social, religious, intellectual history and politics as well as the study of literature and languages of the Middle East and Central Asia,

provides assistance to guest researchers with regards to access to archives, libraries and other academic/historical institutions,

handles requests for and procures scientific research material and makes available the library stocks on oriental subjects.

 

The OI's library in Beirut holds a stock of currently (2010) more than 120,000 volumes and 1,700 academic journals, the OI's library Istanbul a stock of about 35,000 volumes and 1.320 academic journals (Ottoman, Turkish and other languages). The stock of the OI's library in Istanbul is also accessible via the Institute's Online-Public-Acess-Catalogue.

Periodical Publications

Bibliotheca Islamica (BI) (published by the OI Beirut)

Beirut Texts and Studies (BTS) (published by the OI Beirut)

Istanbul Texts und Studies (ITS) (published by the OI Istanbul)

Pera-Papers (published by the OI Istanbul)