Old wrecks discovered underwater in Istanbul

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Eight submerged wrecks among other discoveries have been discovered off Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü coast, said underwater cinematographer and researcher Cumhur Ayar at the launch for underwater history research held at Istanbul’s West Marina on Oct. 9.

“An old breakwater, a historic port and ancient wrecks we call metal wreckage have been unearthed in the research. It will become clear whether these are worth a treasure through our studies. We have taken images from the depths,” Ayar said of the research they had conducted on the Beylikdüzü coast reaching 13 kilometers.

There is a seawall and port system with a length of 3.5 kilometers underwater, Assistant Professor Denizhan Vardar said.

“West of the Marmara Sea has utmost importance as this is where most of the First World War army replenishments were done. Thrace and Çanakkale were also used as points in supporting operations. That is why they are of importance,” Cem Gürdeniz, Koç Foundation board member said.

Cengiz Özkarabekir, the moderator of the panel, said they are willing to go as far as possible in Beylikdüzü. Assistant Professor Güzden Varinlioğlu said an underwater museum and an underwater park could have a place in their future plans.

Underwater excavations off the western province of Muğla’s Marmaris district unearthed a shipwreck in the Hisarönü Gulf in February 2016, one of the oldest shipwrecks ever found in Turkish waters dating back to 4,000 years.

The work in Marmaris is part of a project initiated in 2007 to reveal Turkey’s underwater heritage, supported by the Development Agency.

The project coordinator, Dokuz Eylül University Marine Sciences Associate Professor Abdurrahman Harun Özdaş said underwater archaeologists, marine physicists and marine biologists were part of a 15-person team working on the project.

Özdaş said part of the aim was to take an inventory of shipwrecks in Turkey’s waters, some of which date back 4,000 years.