26 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Environmentalists react to the rehabilitation works in the Assos ancient port

Among the continuing landscaping and restoration works at the historic city of Assos in the northern province of Canakkale, a large hill at the port has been cut, turning the region’s lush environment into dust, causing outrage among nature lovers.

Since the stones falling on the road leading to Assos Ancient City created a security problem, the ancient city was closed to visitors for 500 days and rehabilitation work was started.

The ancient city of Assos was closed to entrances with the conclusion of the tender made by the Ayvacık District Governorate in April.

During the rehabilitation works that started after April, the images that the construction machines disrupted the historical texture became the agenda on social media.

Two environmental organizations, Friends of Assos and the Protection of Natural and Cultural Properties in Mount Ida Society, made an effort to stop the landscape work and uploaded photos of the region before and after the work on social media.

While environmentalists applied for legal complaints, hotel owners in the region supported the landscape project saying, “Rocks from the hills fall on people on rainy days.”

“Things done with heavy equipment at Assos completely contradicts with the European Landscape Pact, which is in force since 2003,” archaeologist Nezih Başgelen told daily Milliyet on Oct. 1.

“The region flattened with bulldozers is an archaeological and protected site,” said Cem Tüzün, an official from Friends of Assos.

“This is a culture extermination,” he added.

However, the business owners in the region do not think the same.

Giving a firm response to those who criticize the work, Erdal Çakır, the head of Assos Hotel Owners Association,” said: “Five years ago, rocks fell from the hill on a vehicle and the roof of a hotel. Human life is under risk.”

Video: Kazdagi Natural and Cultural Heritage Preservation Association



Reminding that there is an official report highlighting this risk, Çakır asked: “Does anybody want that someone gets killed here?”

Tüzün, unlike Çakır, wants the project to stop to save the habitat.

“The project comprises of landscape on six parts. Unfortunately, three parts have been damaged; we are trying to save the remaining three,” he said.

Süheyla Doğan, another environmentalist, posed two questions to the authorities via her interview at the daily: “If rocks fell, why didn’t you think of an easier solution, such as installing barbed wires? Is it true that amid the excavation work, an ancient temple was found under the soil?”

Agreeing with the criticisms that the landscape has started looking ugly because of the works, Çakır said: “The vegetation cover is gone, and it looks ugly, yes. But, it will gain its charms after the landscape work.”

Friends of Assos and the Protection of Natural and Cultural Properties in Mount Ida Society demanded that the construction activities be stopped immediately, those responsible for the murder of Assos be brought to justice, and the destruction in the ancient city should be urgently rehabilitated with scientific methods.

The harbor city of Assos is an ancient city located in Behramkale village about 17 kilometers from Çanakkale’s Ayvacık district. The city, founded some 3,000 years ago, has been known as a famous teaching center since antiquity.

Related Articles

A Fig Dating Back Over 2,000 Years has been Discovered in North Dublin – A First of Its Kind for Ireland

28 November 2024

28 November 2024

The discovery of a fig dating back 2,000 years during an archaeological excavation of Drumanagh in north Dublin, has been...

Thracian Horseman Votive Tablet Discovered in Bulgaria

28 July 2023

28 July 2023

A stone votive relief depicting a Thracian horseman was found during excavations at the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica, located...

The free online course from the Colchester Museums and University of Reading Department of Archeology

12 July 2021

12 July 2021

The opportunity to be among the first to examine 2,000-year-old cremated remains from Roman Britain and learn about the origins...

Unusual Iron Age Female Grave Found in Pryssgården, Sweden

3 November 2024

3 November 2024

In an Iron Age cemetery in Sweden, archaeologists found a woman’s grave buried with a small needle and an iron...

5,200-year-old stone carving silkworm chrysalis discovered in north China

19 July 2022

19 July 2022

According to the provincial archaeological research institute, archaeologists discovered a stone-carved silkworm chrysalis dating back at least 5,200 years in...

3,000-year-old Bronze Age Hoard Discovered During House Building Project in Scotland

31 July 2024

31 July 2024

Recent laboratory investigations of the Rosemarkie find, unearthed during the Black Isle housing development at Greenside in Rosemarkie, Highland Scotland,...

A Medieval ‘Vampire’ Grave Found in Croatia

1 February 2025

1 February 2025

Research at the Rašaška (or Račeša) site, located in the eastern part of Croatia, revealed a grave with an unusual...

Rare textiles and dwellings discovered in the submerged Neolithic settlement near Rome

6 June 2023

6 June 2023

Underwater archaeologists have discovered rare, well-preserved textiles, basketry, and cordage from the early Neolithic period in an area near Rome,...

Hundreds Of Mummified Bees inside their Cocoons from the Time of the Pharaohs found in Portugal

25 August 2023

25 August 2023

Hundreds of mummified bees inside their cocoons have been found on the southwest coast of Portugal, in a new paleontological...

Roman Mosaic found during rescue excavation in southeast Türkiye

13 December 2023

13 December 2023

Archaeologists discovered mosaics believed to be from the Roman era during a rescue excavation undertaken in a rural expanse in...

Olmec reliefs show Ancient Olmec Leaders In Trance-Like State Roaring Like Jaguars

14 August 2022

14 August 2022

Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered two carved reliefs from the late Olmec period (900-400 B.C.) in Villahermosa, Tabasco, southeastern Mexico...

Exciting discoveries at Accana Mound: 3,250-year-old seal belonging to Hittite prince and Akkadian cuneiform texts discovered

19 November 2021

19 November 2021

A 3250-year-old seal of the Hittite prince and a 3400-year-old cuneiform tablet was found in Accana Höyük (Mound) in the...

Statue heads of “Aphrodite” and “Dionysus” were found in Aizanoi Ancient City in Turkey’s

30 October 2021

30 October 2021

The statue heads of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and Dionysus, the god of wine, were unearthed in...

An 8,500-year-old trepanned skull discovered in Çatalhöyük

23 December 2023

23 December 2023

Traces of trepanation (skull drilling operation) were found on a skull found in the 9,000-year-old Çatalhöyük, near the modern city...

Recent Excavations in Spain Reveal 7th Century BCE Religious Structure, Showcasing Eastern Influences within Tartessian Culture

18 February 2025

18 February 2025

A research team led by the National University of Distance Education (UNED) has made an important archaeological discovery at the...