Roman-era floor mosaics unearthed during illegal excavations in the southern province of Osmaniye were rescued from smugglers in a police operation. Adana and Osmaniye security forces, which were informed about an illegal excavation in the village of Kayalı, carried out an extensive operation in five different places and seized the Roman era floor mosaics. Link1 Link2

“The Australian team has uncovered the oldest theater on Cyprus: a structure that was used as a venue for performance and spectacle for over six-and-a-half centuries from 300 B.C. until its final destruction in the earthquakes of A.D. 365,” said the statement. Link

Producing forged sculptures is one of the most common methods of fraud for swindlers. Some of the sculptures were on display in museums, while others were seized by the police. The Culture and Tourism Ministry has seized hundreds of fake artifacts over the last five months. Link

In one of the largest ancient cities in the western province of Denizli, Laodicea, the columns of a portico structure, which collapsed during an earthquake in 494, have been unearthed after more than 15 centuries. Link

Turkish citizens spent around 80 million nights on vacation in the second quarter of the year, down from 87 million in the same period a year earlier, according to the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK), which revealed Nov. 5 domestic travelers mostly chose to stay with friends or relatives rather than hotels. Link1 Link2

Taking a pioneering step for both Turkey and the European continent, cultural and trade officials in the southern district of Side have cut the ribbon on a new underwater museum on the Mediterranean. The museum displays 110 sculptures in five different themes. Link

Turkey gained new opera houses -- or at least theaters that can accommodate an opera or ballet production -- in the 2013-14 season, but the number ofperformances put on these stages has dropped dramatically, according to recent data from the Turkish statistics Institute (TurkStat). Link

The British Museum is to set up a training scheme for Iraqi archaeologists to tackle the aftermath of destruction wrought by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Art Newspaper has reported. A museum spokeswoman said the program, which has been awarded a 3 million-pound grant from the U.K. government, would help Iraq to document the damage and start the process of reconstruction and preservation. Link

The annual presidential culture awards, announced on Thursday evening, were awarded to artists who are known for their pro-Justice and Development Party (AK Party) alignment, thereby illustrating the diminishment of the legitimacy of awards that are to be based on talent and contribution to the arts, according to critics. Link

ENCATC, the European network on cultural policy and management, unveils today the results of its 2015 board elections held on 23 October 2015 in Lecce, Italy.