Ancient Aegean city falls victim to encroaching industrial development

Nuray Pehlivan / DUVAR

The ancient city of Kyme in the Aliağa district of İzmir faces the risk of destruction as changes in its protected status have enabled the encroachment of industrial port facilities.

The first-degree protected archaeological site status of Kyme was downgraded to third-degree status, enabling the construction of a pier at which heavy freight ships will dock. The pier will be in close proximity to the ancient city.

The fact that the legal process launched to prevent this was unsuccessful, coupled with Kyme already being surrounded by large industrial facilities, has paved the way for the ancient city to become a sacrifice of modern industry.

Claims have surfaced in statements regarding the change of the site's archaeological status being made based on the result of undersea surveys, though the research tells a different story. The İzmir No. 2 Conservation Regional Board argued that the decision to change the site in the favor of the company Nemport was made based on expert reports, and the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning approved the area's zoning plans for the same reason.

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However, expert reports accessed by Duvar indicate that this is not the case. Archaeologists working for the İzmir No. 2 Conservation Regional Board evaluated reports made by experts working for the Bodrum Undersea Museum and Dokuz Eylül University's Institute of Marine Sciences and prepared a detailed report of their own to present to the board. This report stated that there was no clear data on the findings regarding changing the site's status and that the downgrade would result in damage to the ancient harbor.

In spite of this, the conservation board ignored the university and museum experts as well as the report presented by their own expert archaeologists when they decided in favor of Nemport.

According to the Bodrum Undersea Museum, the studies that were conducted that enabled the downgrade only covered the planned project area, not the entire boundary of the first-degree protected antique city. Experts have accused the İzmir No. 2 Conservation Board of failing to carry out their duties in neglecting to protect Kyme.

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