Zeugma

The Zeugma Mosaic Museum, one of the world's largest mosaic museums, has attracted more than 3.15 million visitors since its establishment in 2011.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry has made great strides toward restoring historical structures in the provinces ravaged by last year's deadly twin earthquakes in the country's south, bringing various cultural assets back to life.

The country's museums and archaeological sites have attracted almost 14 million visitors in the first six months of the year, seeing a considerable uptick compared to the same period last year, the Culture and Tourism Ministry has announced.

An archaeologist has advocated placing the mosaics found in the northern province of Zonguldak 16 years ago, which are often referred to as the "Zeugma of the Black Sea region," under protection, amid residents' calls to tap into the area's tourism potential.

Zeugma Mosaic Museum in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, one of the largest mosaic museums in the world, broke its daily visitor record during the Eid holiday.

Gaziantep Museum Director Özgür Çomak stated that the all-time visitor record across Türkiye was broken on the second day of Eid al-Fitr and said, "We reached a record number with 5,660 people on the second day alone."

A centuries-old tomb stele smuggled from the ancient Turkish city of Zeugma to Italy has been returned to its home, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced on July 13.

A stele is a standing stone slab used in the ancient world for several purposes, including grave and tomb markers, dedications, commemorations and demarcations.

Italy on Friday returned to Turkish authorities a funerary stele, dating from the second century and carrying a loving inscription to the dead woman's spouse, after investigation determined that it was illegally excavated from southeastern Türkiye.

Zeugma Mosaic Museum, among the largest mosaic museums in the world, has reopened its doors to visitors after the earthquakes that rattled the east of the country on Feb. 6.

British historian, writer and publisher Bettany Mary Hughes has made a documentary film on Arslantepe Mound, which is on the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List in the eastern province of Malatya.

Hughes and her team came to Turkey in cooperation with the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) and started shooting on April 15.

With the pandemic weakening, tourism professionals in Turkey's southeastern region are hopeful of witnessing a tourism boom this year, expecting an influx of both local and international tourists.

According to a feature story in daily Milliyet on April 21, the occupancy rate in region's hotels is around 90 percent as of April.