Forty million liras spent for archaeological excavations by Turkish culture ministry

GAZİANTEP - Doğan News Agency

Roughly 43 million Turkish Liras were spent for excavations in 2013. DHA photo

Archaeological excavations authorized by the Culture and Tourism Ministry have cost roughly 43 million Turkish Liras in 2013, as has been reported at the 36th International Excavation, Research and Archeometry Symposium. The symposium opened yesterday at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum in the southeastern province of Gaziantep. The symposium was attended by Turkish and foreign archaeology teams and academics.  

The Cultural Heritage and Museums General Director Abdullah Kocapınar said excavations had been attached the utmost of importance for the last 10 years. He said 43,125 million liras were allocated for excavations last year.

“It was 1,877 million liras in 2002. This means our allocations for excavations increased by some 23 times between 2002 and 2013. In the countries with quick economic growth, the damage of cultural heritage is rampant. It is not possible to prevent this damage through a handful of people. But at least we should act as fast as these people who damage cultural things. Unfortunately we don’t have the sufficient resources to do so. This is why we need to make the most of the allocations we have,” he said.

Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Şahin said the city had a long history and has the traces of many civilizations. “The ancient city of Dülük, which is as old as the history of human beings, is here. In terms of faith tourism, one can also find traces of the Hittite civilization and Roman civilization here as well. You can see the change and development of Islamic civilization here, as well as the history of Republic. This is why we should keep this history for future generations,” she said.

The opening of the symposium continued with excavations in Karkamış, Zeugma and Milas. It will continue until June 6.