While a total of eight archaeological institutes for foreign missions have been operating in Anatolia since 1898, a "national" one will be introduced with its center in southeastern Turkey's Gaziantep soon.

Preparatory work has been completed for the Turkish Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Institute, which will be founded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality. The institute project is supported by the European Commission and co-financed by Turkey and the European Union.

Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Şahin, who has provided staunch support for the project since the founding process started, said that they launched efforts to this end in 2014. "Founded with the aim of promoting the science of archaeology and creating a Turkish archaeological school after seven years of scientific research and negotiations with the EU, the institute aims to create an understanding of archaeology and cultural heritage unique to our country by focusing on Turkish and Islamic archaeology. The process for the bill of law to be submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly was started under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) deputies from Gaziantep. The institute project will be a valuable asset not only for Gaziantep but also for Turkey," Şahin said.

She stated that the high value that the institute will bring to Turkey through scientific studies will also positively affect diplomacy.

Research for the institute continues with the contributions of 430 archaeology experts in the fields of culture, arts and science from Turkey and Europe. In this context, the restoration of Kendirli Church and the Latin School in Gaziantep has been completed for the institute’s central building, event spaces and archaeometry laboratory.

Details of institute

The Turkish Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Institute will be the first institute in Turkey to have an archaeometry laboratory and a field management laboratory. The laboratory has been completed and made ready for use in accordance with the recommendations of the scientific council of the institute. It is a center that will support the teaching of analytical techniques in archaeometry research. The laboratory is intended to contribute to the existing infrastructure by working with restoration and conservation units as well as its mission to carry out qualified scientific research.

The archaeometry laboratory, which has the infrastructure to analyze the samples obtained from archaeological excavations in Turkey, will also be a guiding institution that supports Turkish archaeology with archaeometry publications.

The Turkish Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Institute will carry out scientific and public diplomacy studies under the umbrella of the Turkish Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Foundation.