Ottoman Identity Document 1927 Muslim Citizen from Janina with photo Balkans Migrant

Early Turkish Republic Identity Card - Nuriye Hanım (1929)

Description:
An extremely rare early Turkish Republic identity card (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hüviyet Cüzdanı), representing the transitional phase between the Ottoman and Republican administrative systems. Although issued under the Republic, this document is partially written in Ottoman Turkish script and partially in modern Turkish (Latin alphabet)  a unique combination that visually reflects the nation’s linguistic transformation after the 1928 Alphabet Reform, when the Arabic script was officially abandoned in favor of the Latin alphabet.

This particular identity card was issued on 22 December 1929, more than a year after the reform. Its printed sections remain in Ottoman script, while the handwritten entries including personal information are in Latin alphabet Turkish. This rare hybrid format illustrates how, due to material shortages and transitional bureaucracy, pre-reform Ottoman forms continued to be used in the early years of the Republic.

The document is photographed, stamped, and fiscally sealed, retaining strong historical and archival value as a symbol of bureaucratic adaptation and identity formation during Turkey’s modernization period.

Moreover, the holder, Nuriye Hanım, was born in Yanya (Ioannina) in 1326 (1910) — a region once part of the Ottoman Balkans. Her identity card not only represents early Republican citizenship but also bears testimony to the Balkan Muslim migration that followed the Ottoman Empire’s loss of its European territories.

Key Features:

• Document Type: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hüviyet Cüzdanı (Republic of Turkey Identity Card)
• Language: Mixed – Ottoman Turkish (printed sections) and Latin-alphabet Turkish (handwritten sections)
• Date of Issue: 22 December 1929
• Holder: Nuriye Hanım
• Father’s Name: Kamil
• Mother’s Name: Hüsniye
• Birthplace and Year: Yanya (Ioannina), 1326 (1910)
• Marital Status: Single (Bekâr)
• Residence: Istanbul, Beykoz
• Features: Photographed, stamped, and fiscally sealed
• Condition: Very good, minor wear consistent with age
• Significance:
  • A rare hybrid-script identity card, showing the transition from Ottoman to Latin writing.
  • Demonstrates bureaucratic continuity in the early Turkish Republic despite the Alphabet Reform.
  • Important document reflecting the migration and integration of Balkan Muslims after the Ottoman withdrawal from the region.
  • A remarkable example of early Republican archival material preserving traces of Ottoman administrative practice.