Yahya Coşkun

Work continues to unearth the largest theater in Thrace, located in the ancient city of Perinthos in the Marmaraereğlisi district of the northwestern province of Tekirdağ.

Türkiye has been elected as a member of the Subsidiary Committee of the Meeting of States Parties to the "UNESCO 1970 Convention," which is an international treaty to combat the illegal trade in cultural items.

Türkiye's membership in the committee will work to promote the protection of cultural assets and their return to their homelands.

Four-year membership

The house of Ottoman archaeologist and painter Osman Hamdi Bey, which serves as a museum on the coast of Eskihisar in the Gebze district in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, will be taken under restoration.

As of 2020, the number of artworks registered in museum inventories is close to 3.5 million, according to Yahya Coşkun, the deputy director-general of the Cultural Heritage and Museums.

Stating that 90 percent of the artworks registered in the museums are being kept in storages, Coşkun said the works on display make up only 10 percent of all relics.

A total of 2,712 historical artifacts were returned to Turkey, to the land where they belong, between 2011 and 2021, according to data given by a senior official.