AKP executive builds house in ancient site in southeastern Turkey

Duvar English

Ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Diyarbakır deputy chair Fatma Biçer has reportedly built an illegal house in an ancient site in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

Opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Garo Paylan began examining the centuries-old cultural sites throughout Turkey that are in danger of being abandoned.

Paylan visited an ancient cave city which is called Diyarbakır’s Göbeklitepe, in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

“This is a 12,000-year-old city. This is a protected area and we are on an ancient city that is more important than Göbeklitepe. But this house made of concrete was built on this ancient city, which we must protect like our eyes,” Paylan said.

Paylan said that the people living in the region told him that the building in question belonged to the AKP’S Diyarbakır deputy chair Fatma Biçer.

“When you are a member of AKP in this country, you can build a construction on an ancient protected area like this. Culture (and Tourism) Minister, is this how you preserve history? Demolish this building immediately and protect it,” Paylan said.

“What is lost is our common history. I call on the Culture Minister to protect this ancient city, where our ancestors lived, and the story of Anatolia, dating back 10,000 years."

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