Turkey: Erdogan to attend 'world’s oldest temple' event

By Rauf Maltas

SANLIURFA, Turkey (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to attend a ceremony to celebrate the inclusion of the “world’s oldest temple” Gobeklitepe in southeastern Sanliurfa province in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

“We will organize a magnificent ceremony in Gobeklitepe with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” Sanliurfa Mayor Nihat Ciftci said, adding the ceremony will be held in the near future.

“Gobeklitepe was flooded with domestic and foreign visitors after the monument was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List,” Ciftci added.

Gobeklitepe was added to the list during the ongoing 42nd UNESCO World Heritage Committee session in Manama, Bahrain, according to the Foreign Ministry on Sunday.

The ministry said "the world’s oldest known megalithic structure located in Upper Mesopotamia dates back 11,000 years".

Gobeklitepe has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List since 2011. It was discovered in 1963 when researchers from Istanbul and Chicago universities were working at the site. Since then, the excavations have never stopped.

The German Archaeological Institute and Sanliurfa Museum have done joint work at the site since 1995 and have found T-shaped obelisks from the Neolithic era measuring 3-6 meters (10-20 feet) high, and weighing 40-60 tons.

During the excavations, diverse historical artifacts like 65-centimeter-long (26-inch) human statues dating back 12,000 years were also discovered.

During preparations for its candidacy, a 4,000-square-meter steel roof was erected to protect the site.

After being temporarily closed to visitors due to restoration work, Gobeklitepe partially reopened in February.