We are accustomed to hearing about Egypt demanding the repatriation of antiquities ever and anon, but, in the last while, Turkey has also been making waves of its own through jumping on the repatriation bandwagon, threatening to revoke excavation permits of foreign projects who hold the antiquities in question, such as the case of the Hittite sphinx in Berlin. In addition, the drive for increasing the touristic potential of archaeological sites has also increased, and projects that are viewed as not generating patent archaeological remains for this venture are threatened with the revocation of permits. This has been the case for foreign projects – the French have lost Xanthos and Letoon according to this logic: they have been working too slowly, and not moving enough earth. Previously, Çatalhöyük has also come under such criticism, particularly in the years that work focused on excavating the multi-phased Building 1 in Area 4040. In addition, some of the tension stemming from the situation at Çatalhöyük was also due to lack of ‘impressive’ finds – such as wall paintings – on a scale approaching that of Mellaart.
Turkey is one of a few countries in the world to boast such extensive representation of past human activity/cultures – from early prehistory to the present day – and management thereof would present a serious challenge to any governing body. Finding a balance between scholarly and economic concerns is something that archaeologists have to wrestle with everywhere, and in Turkey pressure has been mounting. Surely, cultural heritage management on such scale would be handled more easily with international co-operation, and evaluation on a case by case basis.
The principle of cancelling permits of foreign projects and handing them over to Turkish archaeologists does appear to signal an increasing inward looking attitude, where the logic seems to dictate that Turkish archaeologists would be more apt to enact the dictates of the state. Özdoğan’s strident comment on jealousies, favouritisms and petty power struggles shows ‘inside’ dissatisfaction, and a point that many working in Turkey can identify with – I have worked in the country for the last few years and have heard various horror stories, and been at hand in situations that brought these issues into the open.
A thorny topic to say the least, and one that bears watching for those working (or looking to do so) in Turkey.
October 16, 2011 at 5:00 am
under erdogan turkey is being more nationalistic,with erdogan dreaming of a re-incarnation of the ottoman empire.bullying and threatining tactics towards nations involved in excavating in turkey are the norm now,just as it has been with turkeys foreign policy for years when it has been dealing with its smaller neighbours [cyprus comes to mind].for years many turks ignored the rich greek history of asia minor [under the turks many ancient sites and churches were looted in cyprus]but now they prefer to control the archaeology and rewrite history their way.if you can read turkish pick up a history book that is taught to turkish children,you will find a very biased school of thinking were some ancient greeks are suddenly not greeks at all but lydians or phoenicians.
kyri.
October 16, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Various forms of nationalism have existed since the formation of the republic, but it does seem to be more virulent these days. There have been some interesting papers written in English about all this regarding archaeology – one that I found very good is C. Erimtan’s discussion (in the 2008 issue of Anatolian Studies) of Ahmet Ağaoğlu’s role in using the past to articulate Kemalist ideas on the origins of the Turkish people. So, I’m not surprised about the biases in history books; very sad nevertheless.
All the tactics employed by the state are a serious turn-off for working in Turkey. In the field, the role of temsilci is one that can create friction, depending on their person, so even when one gets their permit and prepares to go to work, power and politics can continue to loom over a project.
December 31, 2011 at 7:02 am
Bok Damjane,
Ankica Livić iz Kutine ti piše.
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