• Syrian antiquities funding ISIL, smuggled through Turkey en route to Europe

    A middle-man in Turkey’s southeast has related the journey of antiquities from Syria that are smuggled through Turkey and constitute an important source of income for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to a BBC news report. U.N. Security Council last week banned all trade in artifacts from Syria, accusing jihadist militants of looting cultural heritage to strengthen its ability to organize and carry out terrorist attacks. Link

  • 17 Feb, 2015

  • Footage of Nemrut works discovered in Germany flea market

    In a flea market in Germany, footage has been found of the excavations on Mount Nemrut from 1965, as well as the life of locals in the region. Researcher Şenol Şahin Çörekçi, who lives in Germany, said the footage of the Nemrut excavations, which had been found coincidentally by a Turkish collector, was transferred to the digital environment and brought to Turkey. Link1 Link2

  • 17 Feb, 2015

  • Turkish Culture Ministry to support 49 feature films this year

    During its first meeting of the year, Culture and Tourism Ministry’s General Directorate of Cinema has decided to give 22.2 million Turkish Liras in financial support to 49 local feature film projects in 2015. In the category for the first feature film of a director, 14 projects will be given 4.1 million liras, with 35 other films will be given the remaining 18.1 million liras. Link1 Link2 Link3

  • 13 Feb, 2015

  • Pacific giving up coins from Ottoman wreck

    Divers working to salvage artifacts from the wreck of the Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul in the Pacific Ocean have discovered coins from the boat’s safe on the bottom of the ocean, but worries remain that more effects from the ship will be destroyed with the passage of time. Link

  • 11 Feb, 2015

  • Diyarbakır’s cultural richness to be protected at new center

    An academic center for the restoration and protection of cultural items has been established by Dicle University in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. The purpose of the center is to give academic and scientific support to cultural structures, especially in Diyarbakır and the surrounding region. Link

  • 10 Feb, 2015

  • Monastery restoration nears end

    The restoration of the Trabzon’s famous Kızlar Monastery, one of the most important tourist spots in the Eastern Black Sea region, will soon come to an end and local officials are confident the site will boost local tourism. Link

  • 30 Jan, 2015

  • 2,200 pillaged artefacts seized in European crackdown

    Over 2,200 looted artefacts, many from ancient Egypt, were seized as part of a Europe-wide crackdown that also snared 35 suspected traffickers, Europol announced Jan. 29. Among the most valuable of the recovered cultural items was a majestic bust of Egyptian goddess Sekhmet worth an estimated 100,000 euros ($113,000), said Spanish police Captain Javier Morales, an expert in historic objects. Link

  • 29 Jan, 2015