GAZIANTEP, Turkey, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has kicked off efforts to found its first national archaeology institute on Tuesday in southern Gaziantep province.
The institute is expected to serve as a venue of synergy for Turkish and international researchers to facilitate discovery, protection and promotion of cultural heritage.
The archaeology institute will be based in historical Kendirli Church, which will be renovated in two years, and carry on its work under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The research of the institute will cover ancient Anatolian civilizations, as well as Mesopotamian and Central Asian cultures.
It will also promote and help protect all cultural heritages through interaction with civil society, international archaeological networks, researchers, students, and academicians.
The compound will have library facilities, digital databases of researches, a laboratory, training and consultancy units.
The institute will be set up under the initiative "EU-Turkey Anatolian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Institute Project," which will take 36 months and will be funded by the EU with 7.5 million euros (8.53 million U.S. dollars).
"We have a new goal to make Gaziantep the capital of archaeology," Gaziantep Municipal Mayor Fatma Sahin said at the opening ceremony of the project.
"We aim to make this institute a place where scientists meet," she added at the gathering where several experts from the world have met.
Gaziantep is located in the heart of the birthplace of several civilizations and has been an important hub merging Eastern and Western cultures.
The province has several archaeological sites, including Doliche rich of monuments from Teshuo-Hittite Empire to the Greco-Roman era, Zeugma Ancient Site from Hellenistic to Roman periods, Tilmen Mound, Yesemek Open Air Museum, Karkamis Ancient city, and Gaziantep Castle.
Anatolia is one of the world's premier centers of attractions with its wealth of cultural heritage assets.
Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has made 203 archaeological excavations in various parts of Anatolia and the total number of sites is more than 520 with rescue excavations and surface studies, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Ahmet Haluk Dursun said at the meeting.
Foreign experts are conducting 31 excavations in Turkey, he said, adding that the Americans are carrying on work on eight sites, Germans on six, French on six sites, while Japan on three sites in Turkey.
The EU's Ambassador to Turkey Christian Berger said, "I truly believe that this initiative has a potential to make Gaziantep a hub of the international cooperation on what EU and Turkey's archeologists have done and will do in the future."
This institute will serve for further inter-cultural dialogue between the EU and Turkey by means of protection and promotion of common cultural heritage, he said.
"The institute will also provide accessibility to the ancient Anatolian civilizations archaeological and historical heritage works by the way of collection, preserving and promoting," Berger said.
The institute will provide a platform for joint research and analysis, training, internships for young experts, cooperation with international networks of archaeology, exchange of knowledge, know-how, and sustainable archaeology practices, the ambassador stated.
The institute will be linked to current international network on archaeology and the archives of the Ministry of Culture will be restored on a digital database, so that the international experts will be able to access the information, the Director of Central Finance and Contracts Unit Mehmet Selim Uslu said.
