Ankara has embarked on a series of restoration projects on Armenian churches in Turkey, amid criticism that the country’s remaining Armenian cultural and historical heritage not destroyed during World War I has been left to ruin. The restorations are part of the government’s bid to show that it is improving the rights of Turkey’s Armenian community. Link

The remains of a nearly 1,600-year-old basilica that was discovered at the beginning of last year under Lake İznik in the northwestern province of Bursa is now set to become an underwater museum. The underwater museum project, approved by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, will be carried out by the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, the sponsor of the project. Link

Seasonal excavations have started to revive two magnificent structures of a theater and a church in the 2,600-year-old ancient city of Knidos (Cnidus) in the western province of Muğla. The head of the Knidos excavations, Selçuk University academic Professor Ertekin Doksanaltı, said the city’s excavations restarted in 2013 after many years of waiting. Link

The Haleplibahçe Museum Complex, which will open in two months in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, is set to take visitors for a trip back in time.The complex, built on an area of 200,000 square meters, includes an archaeopark and mosaic museums. It is the first and only museum in Turkey in terms of the number of objects in a closed area. When it is opened to visitors, history aficionados will have the chance to see hundreds of carved rocks with human and animal figures, tombs and inscriptions. Link

Greece on Saturday criticised the "negativism" of the British Museum in rejecting mediation by UNESCO to help resolve the decades-old dispute over returning ancient Parthenon sculptures to Athens. Link

Jewish worshippers in Turkey held a religious service on Thursday in the newly restored Great Synagogue in Edirne province, the first such ceremony in 46 years.An estimated 200-250 people attended the service in the synagogue which recently reopened after a four-year, $2.2 million restoration project. Link

Turkey’s volume of direct incentives for research and development projects will be 1.5 billion Turkish lira ($0.57 billion) in 2015, Turkey's Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Isik said Wednesday.In a speech during the inauguration ceremony of Germany-based MAN’s new bus production plant in Ankara, Isik said the aim is to transform Turkey into a production and R&D hub. Link

A group of travelers who spray-painted their names on rocks in the vicinity of 8,000-year-old paintings on Beşparmak (Latmos) mountain near Lake Bafa have aroused anger from archaeologists and historians over the damage to the ancient site. Link

Turkey's Economy Minister Zeybekci said that the shape of a new Customs Union Agreement, including a solution to "the systematic problems" and a formula to include Turkey in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, will be ready in first half of 2016. Link

Excavation activities at the archaeological site in the ancient city of Perge, which was one of the centers of the Kommagene civilization, will soon commence with the aim of opening up the site for tourism. Excavations will begin soon in the ancient city, located in the southeastern province of Adıyaman, five kilometers away from the city center. It is home to some 200 stone tombs as well as a still-functional fountain.  Link