In Turkey, reports are emerging which once again indicate than nations like these are not capable of looking after the heritage. During the restoration of the 800-year-old Alaaddin Mosque in the southern province of Antalya, a rare survival of ancient masonry, the mosque's main gate has been broken into pieces.
It was claimed the gate was enumerated and dismantled as its structure was weak, according to an architect involved in the project, but the scene at the restoration area appeared otherwise, with stone pieces of the gate apparently scattered around the area. At the site in Korkuteli, it was seen there were no guards or workers present at the historic building, as well as stones thought to belong to the mosque scattered around the area. Some of the stones were numbered while others were not, and there had been no apparent measures taken to protect them.It surely makes no sense to repatriate small portable artifacts to a country which cannot be trusted to look after the bigger monuments. They are safer in the hands of western collectors.
Ömer Erbil, "Gate of historic mosque causes restoration scandal in Antalya" Hurriyet Daily News, January/14/2016.
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