As Iraq struggles to protect its ancient sites and heritage from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the United States returned some 60 historical items to the country on March 16, many dating to thousands of years ago. Link1 Link2

The Turkish capital’s first-ever archaeology and arts museum, the Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum, has just opened, hosting an impressive collection of objects dating back to the Bronze Age of 3000 BC, the Hittite era, the late Roman period, and the Byzantine Empire. The museum is based around a collection of archaeological artifacts acquired by collector Yüksel Erimtan over the years. Link

Archeological studies in the western province of Denizli’s Honaz district have unearthed tools from the Paleolithic age. The tools were found in the same area where a 1.2 million-year-old skull fossil, called “Denizli man,” was found in 2002. Link

The Turkish capital is currently hosting its first-ever international contemporary art fair at the ATO Congresium International Convention and Exhibition Center, presenting work by 200 artists from Turkey and abroad. Link

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