Since 1992 the History Foundation has concentrated its work on local history and especially on Istanbul, publishing Istanbul Encyclopedia and the quarterly journal of Istanbul, in addition to a number of books on the subject, and organizing an exhibition entitled "Istanbul World City."
In 1994 the History Foundation, in collaboration with the Housing Development Administration, organized the "Symposium on Urban History" to discuss the methodological aspects of local historiography. The publication of the proceedings of the symposium was followed by a volume of urban history bibliography.

A pilot project aiming at the compilation of an inventory of historical buildings in Istanbul initiated with the support of the Ministry of Culture, constituted the first step in that field. The project on the zoning plan and historical research for Eyüp, Istanbul, contributed to the knowledge on the district and created the basis for a lively discussion on the subject, while at the same time leading to the production of valuable data and projects available for use by local and central governments.

Istanbul, An Urban History, Çesm-i Cihan Amasra (Amasra, Eye of the World), Besiktas, Past and Present, Cities and the Inhabitants in the Ottoman Empire, East Mediterranean Harbor Cities, Arabic Cities in the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul – the Capitol of Empires, Istanbul on the Insurance Maps, Urban Preservation in Turkey are among the other urban history books published by the History Foundation.

The Foundation also published, with the support of Kent Gida, Inc., an illustrated book entitled Mardin, Poetry of Stone and Faith, as well as Mardin Sehir Dokusu ve Evler (The Urban Structure and Houses of Mardin). They were followed by Mardin, Asiret-Cemaat-Devlet (Mardin: Tribe-Congregation-State), a history of Mardin from the early times to the present which is a significant source in the oral history field. The last book in this series is Tur Abdin: Assyrian Orthodox Religious Architecture. In addition, a guide book on Mardin, entitled Adim Adim Mardin (Mardin Step by Step) was prepared with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Istanbul Technical University.

The History Foundation intends to continue its work in the field of urban historiography, dealing particularly with the cities whose history can be traced far back into the past; making oral history interviews an integral part of such studies; working in collaboration with the provincial and municipal authorities, chambers of industry and commerce, locally significant public and private institutions, and local NGOs.

LOCAL HISTORY COMPETITION FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

In order to encourage young people to carry out research into concrete, local topics, instead of rote learning, and to raise their history consciousness, the History Foundation organizes local history competitions, where students are asked to examine and document the changes taking place in a field they choose from their close surroundings.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, a competition open to all high school students was organized by the Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and with the support of the National Lottery Administration. The competition, entitled "The Turkish Republic Seen through the Eyes of High School Students", was entered by 1504 students from 80 provinces with 886 projects, making use of video and audio cassettes in addition to written work. Both during and after the competition, the Foundation published six issues of a magazine on local history, providing information to help the students in their research work, which were distributed to all high schools around Turkey.

Meetings to provide information on the competition to students and teachers were held in various cities. The Körber Foundation, which had been holding local history competitions in Germany for 25 years, brought a number of students who had won awards in Germany to one of these meetings thus offering young students from the two countries an opportunity to share their experiences in local history. A total of 117 entries were awarded local level prizes, while 50 entries won national level prizes. At a ceremony held in the Presidential Palace on 23 October 1998, the President of the Republic presented the prizes to 111 students who were winners at the national level. The entries winning national level prizes, as well as those with special jury prizes have been published by the History Foundation.

The first local history competition was followed by further activities. The Körber Foundation sponsored the participation of six prize winning Turkish students in an international seminar in Germany on the topic of "What It Means to Be Young: Youth -Yesterday and Today." The second was a meeting organized by the History Foundation at Ürgüp attended by 143 teachers from 44 provinces whose aim was to evaluate the results of the competition.

Starting from year 2000, Toplumsal Tarih journal initiated a history competition among the university students with the slogan “The Youth Writes History” in order to raise history awareness among students and to encourage them to research and write. The competition aims to draw university students' interest in local history topics.