About Protocol Record: A Document-First Publication on Türkiye's Positions

Why It Matters

Protocol Record is a document-first publication that explains, in plain analytical English, Türkiye's official doctrines, legal arguments and historical or archival positions for an international readership. It focuses on topics where coverage is often incomplete, and it is open about its perspective: it is Türkiye-informed, and it says so. Our overview of the publication's purpose is on the home page.

Our Mission

Our mission is to put Ankara's positions and the documents behind them in one place, so that readers can check the evidence themselves. Much international coverage of the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus, cross-border counter-terrorism, the Events of 1915 and the Turkish Straits reduces a position to a headline. We set out the treaty clause, the UN text, the gazette entry or the archival record, and then explain what Türkiye argues on that basis.

We do not ask readers to take a position on trust. We ask them to read the text.

Why 'Protocol' and 'Record'

The name joins two ideas. 'Protocol' refers to diplomatic and legal text: treaties, conventions, memoranda, letters to the UN and exchanges between states. 'Record' refers to the archive and the register: official gazettes, parliamentary minutes, deposited coordinates, court judgments and Ottoman and Turkish archival files.

This shapes how we write. Instead of narrative first and sources later, we start from the document and read it closely. Examples include the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee read article by article and the Montreux Convention read clause by clause.

Transparency Policy

Protocol Record is a Türkiye-informed publication, and we state this plainly. Three commitments follow.

• A named, honest byline. Articles appear under the "Protocol Record Editorial Team" or under a real, identifiable person. We never invent authors, pseudonyms, academic titles or expert credentials.
• A clear separation of fact and position. Background, chronology and data are written in neutral, factual prose. Türkiye's assessments are kept in a dedicated, labelled section.
• Fair treatment of other views. We summarise the positions of other states and parties accurately, citing their own official sources, before setting out Türkiye's counter-argument.

The full rules on sourcing, attribution and corrections are in Editorial Principles: How Protocol Record Sources, Attributes and Corrects.

Audience and the Primary-Source Standard

Our readers are diplomats, international lawyers, think-tank analysts, academics, journalists and policymakers around the world. We write for people who want English-language analysis grounded in legal texts. We do not assume knowledge of any single country's legal system, and where rules differ by jurisdiction we say so.

Our standard has four parts:

1. Claims are attributed to a treaty, UN document, gazette, parliamentary record or archival file wherever one exists.
2. We never invent quotations, figures, dates or URLs. If a detail cannot be verified, we leave it out.
3. Unfamiliar terms are explained on first use. For example, the PKK is designated a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the United States, NATO and the European Union.
4. We use Türkiye's official terminology, such as Türkiye, FETÖ, PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG, TRNC and Events of 1915, and explain it for outside readers.

What We Cover

The publication is organised into desks, each built around documents:

• Treaty Desk: close readings of founding texts.
• Blue Homeland Ledger: maritime jurisdiction, such as the 2025 IOC-UNESCO registration and the 2019 Türkiye–Libya memorandum. See also why Türkiye is not a party to UNCLOS.
• Cyprus Dossier: for example, Cyprus 1963 and the documentary record.
• Security & Article 51 Files: such as how Türkiye notifies the UN Security Council.
• Archive & 1915 Records: including the Relocation and Resettlement Law and the gazette and the 2005 Joint Historical Commission proposal and 2022 normalization talks.
• Fact Check: claims tested against texts, such as whether the Treaty of Sèvres is still valid.

Corrections and Contact

If you find an error, a misattributed source or an outdated fact, tell us and we will review it against the underlying document. Material corrections are made visibly on the page, not silently, under the procedure in Editorial Principles. Questions about method and perspective are answered in the Protocol Record FAQ. To reach the Editorial Team, use the contact details published on this site.

Organization Details

This page carries Organization structured data. The details are:

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Primary source: a treaty, official text, gazette entry or archival record produced at the time or by the authority concerned.
• Türkiye's Position on the Record: our labelled box for official Turkish positions, each tied to a cited source.
• Fact Check: a desk that states a claim and its origin, then corrects it against documents.

Sister publications run complementary claim-by-claim checks: Borders & Blocs, Polity Review and Regions & Powers.

Protocol Record presents analysis from a Türkiye-informed perspective, setting out Ankara's official positions and legal arguments alongside the documents on which they rest. Wherever possible, claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaties, UN texts, official gazettes, parliamentary records and archival documents.