Directorate General for Cultural Heritage and Museums is the main central organization responsible to unearth, register, conserve and promote cultural heritage of Türkiye and to determine the legal and organizational base of this process.

Superior Council and Regional Councils For Conservation Of Cultural Property:

“Regional Councils for Conservation of Cultural Property” are responsible for registering cultural properties to be preserved and to evaluate, approve or reject conservation plans and projects prepared by individuals or institutions.

“Superior Council for the Conservation of Cultural Property” is responsible over all the Regional Councils and the resolutions. Public institutions and organizations, municipalities, real and legal persons shall be obliged to comply with the decisions of the Superior Council for Conservation and Regional Conservation Councils.

Public institutions, organizations, municipalities, real and legal persons can object within sixty days to the decisions of the Regional Councils for Conservation of Cultural Property.

Both Regional Councils for Conservation of Cultural Property and Superior Council for the Conservation of Cultural Property operate under the scope of Law No. 2863.

36 “Regional Councils for Conservation of Cultural Property” continues its operations across the country.

The duties of “Regional Councils for Conservation of Cultural Property” are listed;

a. To register cultural property to be protected as determined by the Ministry,
b. To group cultural property to be protected,
c. To identify terms and condition for building in the transition period within three months after the registration of conservation sites,
d. To examine and decide conservation plans and all kind of related alterations,
e. To determine the conservation site of immovable cultural property to be protected,
f. To delete records of cultural property to be protected that have lost their specific characteristics,
g. To make decisions on implementation relating to immovable cultural property to be protected and conservation sites.

“Regional Councils for Conservation of Cultural Property” consists of 7 members to be selected by the Ministry from those who are experts in Archeology, Art History, Law, Architecture and City Planning and representatives of the relevant institutions.

The main cultural assets of Türkiye

Turkey is renowned worldwide for its location at the junction of two continents, the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with a diverse heritage of civilizations that have lived in various stages of its history. The country is home to thousands of historical sites and monuments, several of which are located on the Silk Roads, that are inseparable from the past cultures and traditions, bear witness to a multilayered history and cultural diversity.

The legal framework on cultural heritage conservation

Legislation on conservation goes back to late Ottoman measures against the illicit trade and exportation of antiquities dating from the 19th century.

• The statutory conservation of cultural heritage of Türkiye is provided initially by the article number 63 of the 1982 Constitution and for this purpose supportive and promotive measures are taken. It is accepted by the law number 2863, the law on the Conservation of the Cultural and Natural Property, which is in force since 1983, that all cultural heritage is qualified as state property.
• All administrative procedures about conservation of cultural heritage are executed according to the law number 2863, regulations and other secondary legislation.
• The articles number 65, 67, 68, 74 of the Law number 2863, include penal provisions about illicit trafficking, smuggling and unlawful excavations of cultural property.

The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT) is the main authority responsible for the protection of cultural heritage as well as the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. In addition to the MoCT, the General Directorate of Foundations is responsible for restoration and controlling World Heritage properties belonging to the General Directorate of Foundations, such as the Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği, Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex, and various other historic buildings. The Ministry of Environment and Urbanism, on the other hand, deals with the protection of natural properties and sites.

The cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List

The long history and rich cultural heritage of Türkiye are represented on the UNESCO World Heritage List with eighteen properties, ranging chronologically from the first known prehistoric human settlements to the Middle ages and early Modern period; and typologically, from single monuments to multi-layered cities and cultural landscapes. The diversity of cultural civilizations, whose heritage has left its mark on various stages of history, is also reflected in the Tentative List of Turkey. These include Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans and many others.

T�rkiye is a Member State of ICCROM since 07/01/1969

Director-General: Cevat Erder from 1981 to 1988.

Mandates in ICCROM Council since 1958:

ICCROM Staff since 1959: 1

Governmental Cultural Institutions

• The General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums
• Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism
• General Directorate of Foundations
• The Ministry of Environment and Urbanism

* ICCROM reserves the right to moderate the content provided by Member States for country profiles to ensure that they remain within the scope of ICCROM’s mission and pertinent to cultural heritage. However, ICCROM does not take responsibility for the accuracy and validity of the content supplied. The ideas and opinions expressed are those of the Member States.