Minister Ersoy: “Konya Sets an Example for Other Cities in Tourism Leap”

Mayor of Konya Metropolitan Municipality Uğur İbrahim Altay also spoke at the opening. Altay said that, “Hopefully, this centre will mark a new beginning for Çatalhöyük. With the support of our Ministry, I believe Çatalhöyük will become one of the most recognized settlements not only in Turkey but also in the world.”

Çatalhöyük Promotion and Welcome Centre: A Landmark Achievement for Konya

With the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Konya Metropolitan Municipality introduced Çatalhöyük Promotion and Welcome Centre, Turkey’s largest wooden construction public building, to the city through a ceremony. Speaking at the opening, Mayor of Çumra Recep Candan expressed pride as a resident of Çumra, stating that the centre is a turning point for Çatalhöyük. He thanked Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay and Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

“A Museum-Like Facility” 

Describing the centre as a means to present the unique heritage of Çatalhöyük and ensure its safe passage to the future, Mayor Altay said, “We have built one of Turkey’s largest promotion and welcome centres to showcase our 10,000-yearold heritage in every aspect. The Çatalhöyük Promotion and Welcome Centre, covering 4,500 square meters of enclosed space, consists of 7 different sections. Within the centre, there is also a souvenir sales unit where visitors can take a memento with them when they leave. In addition to all this, we have built an observation tower where the two mounds can be viewed from above.”

Çatalhöyük, a Key Settlement in Understanding the Foundations of Civilization 

Minister Ersoy emphasized that Çatalhöyük is one of Turkey’s and the world’s significant archaeological treasures on the UNESCO World Heritage List, highlighted its importance in shedding light on humanity’s lifestyle 9,000 years ago. He stated that, “Çatalhöyük, like Göbeklitepe, has been a key settlement in understanding the foundations of civilization over the centuries. It has provided invaluable information about Anatolia’s mining history, the concept of property, and the nexus between agricultural production and urbanization. Çatalhöyük continues to be a systematic excavation area, contributing significantly to our knowledge of archaeological values.”

“A Centre of Great Significance Emerges”

Expressing the Ministry’s visionary approach to art, culture, and historical values, Minister Ersoy stated, “We have successfully managed and increased our institutionalized excavations and research across multiple disciplines. We work in collaboration with all institutions to uncover, restore, and promote our archaeological riches nationally and internationally. The promotion and welcome centre we opened today are located within the third-degree archaeological site. It is situated on a 26,500-square-meter area owned by Konya Metropolitan Municipality in a field designated as a special project area in the protectionoriented zoning plan. The project, whose foundation was laid in August 2021, has been continuously carried out for 2 years, and today, a centre of great significance that fills all of us with pride has emerged.”

Minister Ersoy Applauds Konya’s Tourism Master Plan

Minister Ersoy thanked to Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay. Ersoy also stated that “In late 2018, the mayor came to our office and invited me to Konya. He said, ‘I want Konya to be known as a tourism city. Please come to Konya and share your onsite observations and opinions with us. We want to quickly transform Konya into a tourism city with you.’ We suggested that they need to prepare a Tourism Master Plan and assured them that the Ministry would always be by their side. I commend our mayor for achieving such quick results after so many visits. The master plan we prepared jointly with the municipality is a very detailed plan. Currently, as the Ministry, we recommend this master plan to cities that want to undergo this transformation, saying, ‘Go to Konya Metropolitan Municipality; if you follow the path they have taken, you will achieve very quick results. There is a very exemplary work there. We recommend it to all of you.’ We provide all the support we can as the Ministry, and we will continue to increase it. Because Konya has become an example for us. I wish Çatalhöyük Promotion and Welcome Centre good luck once again.”