Türkiye'de askeri faaliyetlerle ilgili evrakların arşivlenmesi ve bu anlamda özel bir arşiv oluşturulması çalışmaları İkinci Meşrutiyet Dönemine kadar uzanır. Bu dönemden itibaren değişik isimler altında faaliyet gösteren kuruluş 1978'de Askeri Tarih ve Stratejik Etüt (ATASE) Başkanlığı adını almıştır. Bu isim 2004'te Genelkurmay ATASE ve Denetleme Başkanlığı olarak değiştirilmiştir. Günümüzde halen Genelkurmay Başkanlığı'na bağlı olarak aynı isimle arşiv ve yayın çalışmalarını sürdürmektedir. Bu kuruluşun bünyesinde bulunan arşiv, Türk askerî ve siyasî tarihinin 1853-1856 Kırım Savaşı'ndan günümüze kadar olan kısmıyla ilgili belgeleri barındırması açısından oldukça önemli ve zengin bir içeriğe sahiptir. İlk başlarda Türk askeri tarihiyle ilgili belgelerin toplanmasıyla gelişen arşiv çalışmaları sonraki dönemlerde bu belgelere dayalı çeşitli kitap ve süreli yayın faaliyetleriyle birlikte genişletilmiştir. Bünyesinde yaklaşık on milyon belge barındıran ATASE arşivi dinamik bir görüntü çizmektedir. Sürekli ilerleyen teknolojik ortam da dikkate alınarak kuruluşun bünyesinde yer alan arşiv belgelerinin tasnif araştırmacıların belgeleri bilgisayar ortamında görüntüleyebileceği bir düzeye erişmiş görünmektedir. Ancak arşivde yer alan belge koleksiyonlarının tamamı henüz araştırmacılara açılmamıştır

Archiving of documents related to military activities in Turkey and studies establishing a special archive in this sense extend to the period of Second Constitutional Monarchy. The organization operating under different names since this period, took the name of Directorate of Military History and Strategic Studies (ATASE) in 1978. This name was changed to General Staff ATASE and Inspection Directorate in 2004. Depending on the General Staff, today it continues still to the works of archives and publications with the same name. The archive located within this organization is very important and has a rich content covering many ammunitions and documents related with the portion of Turkish military and political history from the 1853- 1856 Crimean War to the present day. At the beginning, growing with the collection of documents relating to the Turkish military history, the archive studies have extended with a variety of books and periodicals activities based on these documents in subsequent periods. The documents in the archive are grouped under the following headings: Ottoman-Russian (Crimean) War (1853-1856), OttomanSerbia Montenegro War (1875-1877), the Ottoman-Russian (93) War (1877-1878), Ottoman - Greek War (1897), the Ottoman- Italian War (1911-1912) , Interior Uprisings in Ottoman Period (1896-1914), the Balkan War (1912-1913), First World War (1914-1918), War of Independence (1919-1922), Republican Period Internal Revolt (1923- 1938), Peace Operations, Ataturk Collection, Korean War (1950-1953), the Martial Law Documents, the Cyprus Peace Operation (1974), the Gulf War (1991), Histories, CENTO Collection , Maps – Albums. About three -quarters of the ten million documents taking place in archive are in Ottoman language. There are also documents in English, French, German and Russian languages. ATASE archive draws a dynamic image. Taking into account the continuously advancing technological medium, the archive of documents within the organization are continued to the classification studies. The classification studies seem to have reached to a level that the researchers can view documents on computer. However, all of the ammunition collections existing in the archive have not been opened yet to researchers. The prior authorization must be obtained for doing research in the archive of General Staff ATASE. Beside the petition stating clearly the research goals, the contents of the subject to be examined by the researchers, a reference letter received from the requesting institution is Askerî ve Siyasî Tarih Araştırmaları İçin Önemli Bir Belge Merkezi: Atase Arşivi… 343 Turkish Studies International Periodical For the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic Volume 10/1 Winter 2015 also among the documents required for the granting of permission to study. In addition to these documents, it is also required the addition of some credentials. To be able to work in the archive, the requirement of prior authorization is a major limitation faced by researchers. Besides, the limited number of documents to be submitted to the researcher is also another problem required to be solved. The number of documents limited to 50 at the graduate level and 100 at the PhD level, which can be given to academic researchers can cause problems for people who want to work in this field. Among the main reasons for the limitations in the number of documents available to researchers, the uncompleted classification studies occupy also an important place. Because of this, the accelerating and completion of classification studies will make it easier for researchers who want to work in the archive. The high degree of precision in the working conditions of ATASE Archive must have been a situation arising from the featured documents related to military history and the fact that some of them still remain some degree of privacy. Despite all investigations that we have done, no having seen any study that we can obtain satisfactory information on the ATASE Archive is a result of this situation. Albeit, there are encountered in the name of two master's thesis made on ATASE Archive in 1995, as being one directly and other indirectly, these studies do not appear neither in the data base of YOK, nor in the library catalogues of Ankara University where these thesis were made. Despite these difficulties, this study that we have created based on the limited data that can be accessed is in the nature that can eliminate partially the need for information on ATASE. There is introductory need for more detailed and up to date review of ATASE Archive hosting very of important documents on military and political history of Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey