A massive underground city, which was discovered last year in the central Anatolian province of Nevşehir and was the year’s biggest archaeological discovery, is being cleaned with a geo-radar machine. Work has begun around the Nevşehir Fortress, carried out by the Nevşehir Municipality in collaboration with Turkey’s Housing Development Administration (TOKİ), the Governor’s Office and the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Link

The original will of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk -- the founder of modern Turkey -- is not missing and is in fact safe in the archives of Turkey’s General Directorate of State Archives, a senior official told The Anadolu Agency.Moreover, there is no mention of the Ataturk Forestry Farm where the new presidential palace has been built in Ankara in the will, General Director of State Archives Ugur Unal said. Link

Turkish officials have refused to give permission to Professor Ahmet Yaraş, the former of head of the Allianoi excavations, to conduct a dig at an archaeological site of Güre in Balıkesir’s Edremit district.The hot spring site is reportedly being used as a garbage dump at the moment because officials have refused for three years to grant Yavaş permission to conduct the dig after he ran afoul of politicians in agitating to protect Allianoi. Link

Istanbul is rich in terms of museums, but only now are the families of deceased artists beginning to open museum houses to create a bridge between the public and their literary and artistic heroes. Link

Excavations carried out over the last six months in the western province of Muğla’s Bodrum district unearthed rock tombs from various eras, a historic figurine on a rock and artifacts from the early Bronze Age. Link

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has condemned the destruction of the ancient Iraqi city of Hatra by Daesh militants.UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, director general of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), made a joint statement on Saturday. Link1 Link2

The town of Selçuk, in the western Turkish province of İzmir, which hosts around 2.5 million tourists visiting the nearby ancient site of Ephesus every year, is hoping to improve its faith tourism potential and draw more tourists. Link

Women have made great strides into Turkey's workforce over the past 50 years, but relatively few work, and only a few break the glass ceiling. Women, who constitute almost exactly half of Turkey's population, make up only 30 percent of labor force participation, according to a report from the Turkish Statistical Institute on Thursday. Link

The demolition and closure of the Kyme Archaeology Museum and Excavation House in İzmir’s Aliağa district, which municipal authorities have said would be replaced with a new building constructed on the present site, has been stopped by the Culture and Tourism Ministry. The Movement of the Protection and Support of Aliağa Archaeology Museum activists had filed a criminal complaint and organized demonstrations to prevent the closure of the museum. Link1 Link2

Work is continuing at the ancient ruins of Ani, a 5,000-year-old Armenian city located on the Turkish-Armenian border in the eastern province of Kars, with an eye on including the site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Link