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

Turkey signed an agreement with the EU Commission for a seven-year €920 million "Employment and Social Innovation Program" in Ankara Friday, Turkey's EU Ministry announced.The agreement aims to provide in Turkey a high level of quality and sustainable employment; guarantee adequate and decent social protection; combat social exclusion and poverty, and improve work conditions.The program is considered a part of Turkey's "National Action Plan for EU Accession," which was unveiled by EU Minister Volkan Bozkir on Dec. 1, 2014. The action plan has been prepared in the context of “Turkey’s New European Union Strategy.” Link

The historical Valide Sultan Bath, built by Kanuni Sultan Süleyman’s wife Hürrem Sultan in the central Anatolian province of Konya’s Karapınar district in the 16th century, has been turned into a museum. Link

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants armed with sledgehammers and jackhammers have destroyed priceless ancient artefacts in Iraq's city of Mosul, a video released by the jihadists on Feb. 26 shows.The The destruction sparked widespread consternation and alarm, with some archaeologists and heritage experts comparing it to the 2001 demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Link1 Link2

Turkey has become one of the leading book markets in the world. This was the claim made at the opening ceremony of the CNR Expo Book Fair in Istanbul on Friday. Turkey’s culture ministry library chief, Hamdi Tursucu, said that the country has the world’s 12th biggest book market. Link 

A museum is under construction on the castle of Zile, known for Roman Emperor Julius Caesar’s famous phrase “veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered) to the Roman senate. A stone building, which was established on the land on the right side of the historic castle in the northern province of Tokat, is set to open as a museum when the refurbishments are complete. Link

The St. Pierre Church, considered a pilgrimage place for Christians and believed to be the world’s first cave church by some sources, has been restored and expects to host 500,000 visitors annually. Located in the skirts of the Mont Habib Neccar in the eastern province of Hatay, the church was a meeting point for the believers of Jesus in the 1930s. Link