International Archaeology Symposium

Dear academicians, members of our film, culture and art community, dear guests, I would like to extend my warmest greetings to you with all my heart. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the 22, 23 and 24 year old Samsun MP, our former mayor of Samsun, Mustafa Demir. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the late Mustafa Demir's family, his relatives and the people of Samsun. May God make his abode a paradise. Dear guests, I am very happy to be with you for the International Archaeological Symposium and the Golden Age Exhibition of Archaeology. I would like to express my deepest condolences to all our guests from all over the world. I would like to express my deepest condolences to all our guests from all over the world. I would like to express my deepest condolences to all our guests from all over the world. I would like to express my deepest condolences to all our guests from all over the world. I would like to express my deepest condolences to all our guests from all over the world. I would like to express my deepest condolences to our guests from all over the world. I send my greetings and love to all of our old-time explorers from our countries to our civil society institutions. Dear guests, Anatolian lands have hosted many states and civilizations that have changed the course of history to countless communities for thousands of years. Our archaeologists know very well that each layer of these lands, each work brought to light in these layers, takes you to the oldest pages of history. Here, beliefs, cultures, languages and colors have intertwined, all added to each other. The common memory of humanity has been shaped in Anatolia. Anatolia, which we have been proud to be a resident and guardian of for decades, and which we have gradually enshrined in our culture, is an open-air museum that reflects all the splendor of humanity. If you go to any country in the world today and ask the people there what the oldest structures of humanity are, the answer you will get will most likely be either the Egyptian pyramids or the stone structure in England. However, right next to us is Göbekli Tepe, which is located in Haliliye district of Şanlıurfa province. Its history dates back 7,500 years from the stone structure and 7,500 years from the Egyptian pyramids. In other words, we are talking about a structure that is exactly 12,000 years old. First of all, I find it useful to say that if we do not understand the geography we live in correctly, we will not be able to draw our future route correctly. I always say that we have been here for a thousand years. We live in these lands. God willing, we will continue to be here until the Day of Judgment. Therefore, we have to find the direction of our national culture here. Our late Hilmi Ziya Ülken Hodja expressed this truth as follows. Since our historical destiny brought us to the Mediterranean, we must look for the roots of our national culture and the path of development in the progress of this civilization. Dear friends, together with this, we also have a very rich and rooted heritage in the field of archeology. It is extremely important to reveal this treasure, document it, protect it with care, and leave it to the new generations in the best possible way. In this respect, it is extremely important. Our ancestors paid great attention to preserving and transmitting the accumulation we have with all its details. I would like to draw your attention to this issue. First of all, works belonging to ancient civilizations in the reign of Sultan Abdulmecid were seen as cultural wealth and began to be preserved. In the following process, in the last quarter of the 19th century, the issue of the preservation of historical works was moved to a legal ground with the publication of antiquities. The Museum of Humayun, which was established in 1891 with the permission and will of Sultan Abdulhamid Khan, is not only a museum of Ottoman geography, but also the first modern museum of the East. Our works in the field of archeology have developed and developed even more with the decisive steps taken in the early years of the Republic. Museums established in the 1930s, excavations started in different places, and archeology courses opened in our universities have elevated scientific studies in this field. Many large-scale projects were implemented in the following periods. Dear friends, we are currently carrying out the flag race in this field by taking all our opportunities into account. Together with you, we are making every effort to carry our heritage of history and culture to the future. Our Ministry of Culture, relevant institutions, universities, teachers, civil society institutions, and all actors of our Archeological Society are making intense efforts. Our colleagues in the Presidency of the Republic are working with an encircling and embracing understanding without skipping any details. As a result of your hard work, we do not avoid any sacrifice in order to see the interest and value of our hidden treasures. We are proud to see that our efforts have not been in vain. Today, we have reached a very important level in terms of both scope and content with our activities in this field with nearly 800 hours of work per year. Our excavation teams on the ground, our diver scientists underwater, we are almost writing a story in archeology. In addition to writing this story in archeology, we are making unparalleled contributions to the history of humanity. I would like to share this with you here. Turkey is in the first place in the world archeology in terms of land, surface, and underwater excavations. We are in the first place in the world archeology. In 2023, we launched the Future Heritage Project, the most comprehensive archeological study in the history of our republic. With this project, we have increased the source of archeology in Turkey. We have increased the number of our excavation presidents on all sides of our country from 151 to 250 in the last 7 years. In 2024, more than 2,000 experts, more than 3,000 employees and archeological activities were supported by more than 2,000 experts. We managed to get the results of our Future Heritage Project in a short time. The most concrete results of the project showed themselves during the excavation period. Previously, the excavations were carried out in a limited period of time. The excavation season consisted of approximately 90 days. When the opening and closing processes of the excavation area were taken into account, this time was almost 40-50 days. With the new opportunities we provide, we increased the excavation period to 12 months. As long as the weather conditions are suitable, our teachers carry out excavation studies in a very direct way. The remaining time is dedicated to the academic processes of these studies. Another important result of our project was that excavation studies in our country began in Efes 163 years ago. At that time, there were studies carried out by foreign teachers. With the project, we started the Turkish Coordinator Excavation Presidency in Örenyeri excavations. We continue to offer our excavation areas to the benefit of local and foreign visitors through reception centers and walking paths. With the implementation of the night museum, which we implemented at 27 points, visitors go on a magical historical journey not only during the day but also at night. As of this month, we have also started the National Inventory Project for Turkish-Islamic period tombstones and books. With this project, we identify, document and bring together Turkish-Islamic tombstones and books from all over Anatolia. We aim to turn the data we collect and all the works we reach into a very voluminous mass. Our experts will first take our country and then, God willing, everywhere that the Turks take a step, and will carefully record our cultural heritage. Dear friends, I would like to say this on this occasion. It is a blessing for us to revive the Turkish-Islamic archeology, which was pushed back to the background until recently. Kars, which was our first gateway to Anatolia, began to be excavated in the same ruins, and then in Ahlat and Malazgirt. We have signed tens of hundreds of works that are related to the past. We have gained a new breath in this field by establishing Turkish-Islamic archeology departments in our universities. On the other hand, we pay attention to our historical and cultural values with the activities we carry out across the country. Our cultural festivals, which cover different areas from line art to miniature exhibitions, and our cultural heritage exhibitions continue at full speed. In our Eastern and Southeastern Anatolian regions, we carry out cultural and art activities under the name of Anatolian Joy. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we have set new records in other fields, especially in the field of librarianship. With a very meticulous restoration and reconstruction work, we opened the Rami Library, which we opened in 2023, to 7 million people in two and a half years. After an 86-year gap, the Hagia Sophia Mosque, which we have restored to its original identity, has undergone the most comprehensive restoration process in its history. We have restored the Galata Tower to its original glory. We have obtained the Kızkulesi, which is at the point of collapse, in a way that will hopefully remain standing for centuries. We have successfully completed the maintenance and restoration works of our Istanbul Archaeology and Ankara Painting and Sculpture Museums. We have implemented the CSO project, which is now the Congress of our capital, as the CSO Island. The next stop of this transformation will be Haydarpasa and Sirkeci. Our ministry is signing a beautiful project that includes art and culture. With the completion of the project, the Anatolian corner of Istanbul, the eye of the world, will also have an important cultural and artistic area. Thus, while Haydarpasa and Sirkeci provide rail transportation services, culture, art and history will come to life again. Dear guests, While we are preserving and reviving each and every one of our cultural assets in our heart region and in other parts of the world, we are also in intense struggle to restore the historical works that were taken from our country to Turkey. We are bringing these works, which were taken abroad, to Anatolia, along with our legal and diplomatic efforts, which have been scientific studies for many years. From 2002 to today, we have restored 13,291 historical works to their homeland. The bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was taken from our country exactly 65 years ago, is now open to your visit. Our teacher Jale Inan, who was one of the first names of Turkish archaeology, was the first name to reach out to find this precious piece. Of course, finding the work was not enough. A much more difficult struggle is being fought to bring it. Our experts measured its base in centimeters to prove that the statue belongs to us. They took out the silicone molds, collected samples from other works in the same region, and finally brought this work back to our country. On this occasion, I would like to thank Professor Jale Inan and congratulate everyone who contributed to the restoration of the work. I ask you to never forget this. Look, the 421st article of the Sevres Treaty, which aims to imprison our nation, contains the law of the Ottomans, which is still in force in antiquity. In other words, our sovereignty over our historical and cultural heritage is to be taken away from us, our cultural values are to be removed. At the same time, these suppressions, which aim to cut ties with the roots of our nation, are also in vain. Therefore, each member of our archaeological community takes care of our national existence and fulfills a historical mission and responsibility. We are aware of the importance of the efforts you carry out with your efforts for our country. As it has been so far, I especially want you to know that we will always be with you from now on. I would like to thank all of our teachers, all of our brothers, all of my people, and all of my people who have worked hard for the preservation of our historical works, our cultural treasures, and our architectural heritage. With these thoughts, I wish that the International Archaeological Symposium and the Golden Age Exhibition of Archaeology will once again be a means for good. I would like to thank all of our teachers, all of our brothers, all of my people, and all of my people who have worked hard for the preservation of our historical works, our cultural treasures, and our architectural heritage. I would like to thank all of our teachers, all of my people, and all of my people who have worked hard for the preservation of our historical works, our cultural treasures, and our architectural heritage.