Malatya City Council Secretary General Atty. Abdulkadir Artan, Malatya City Council Historical and Cultural Heritage Working Group Representative Orhan Tuğrulca, Fırat University Prof. Dr. İsmail Aytaç, Malatya Museum Director Murat Ata and Cultural Heritage School participants attended.
The first guests of the Cultural Heritage School program are Prof. from Fırat University. Dr. İsmail Aytaç and Malatya Museum Director Murat Ata. Speakers gave information about the situation of cultural heritage in Malatya after the earthquake, the extent of the destruction and the measures taken.
Providing information about the Cultural Heritage School, Malatya City Council Secretary General Atty. Abdulkadir Artan said, “As the Malatya City Council Historical and Cultural Heritage Working Group, we paused our Cultural Heritage School project, which we started last year before the earthquake, due to the earthquake, and as of today, we have started again from where we left off. We are hosting two of our most valuable fellow citizens here. "Our Cultural Heritage School will continue with different guests and topics," he said.
Providing information about the history of Malatya, Artan said, “Our historical monuments need to be approached more sensitively and restoration works need to be carried out more meticulously. Therefore, I hope that the cultural heritage school will raise awareness on these issues.”
CULTURAL HERITAGE SCHOOL WILL LAST ONE YEAR
Malatya City Council Historical and Cultural Heritage Working Group Representative Orhan Tuğrulca said, “We will continue the Cultural Heritage School from where we left off after the earthquake. We had held three classes before the earthquake, we were hesitant about what kind of participation there would be after the earthquake, but when we saw the high participation, we realized how meaningful the cultural heritage is in Malatya. Our Cultural Heritage School will last one year. Everyone experienced different difficulties due to the earthquake. We wanted to start somewhere after the earthquake. Life somehow goes on. We want to recover our distracted attention thanks to these programs. We will start somewhere in life. We think we will make progress with these programs. I would like to thank everyone again for the intense participation. "I would like to thank our valuable teachers for their beautiful presentations," he said.
Malatya Museum Director Murat Ata gave statistical information and the studies they carried out as the Malatya Museum Directorate regarding the registered cultural assets before and after the earthquake. Making a presentation about the latest situation of registered cultural assets in Malatya after the earthquake, Ata stated that the tender for the renovation and restoration of Malatya Archeology Museum, Atatürk Memorial House and Beşkonaklar Ethnography Museum was made. In addition, Ata stated that the total number of Registered Cultural Assets in Malatya Province is 4, the number of undamaged cultural assets is 308, and the number of damaged (light-medium-heavy-completely collapsed) assets is 249.
RESTORATION WORK MUST BE DONE CORRECTLY
Prof. made a presentation about the studies they carried out after the earthquake. Dr. İsmail Aytaç said, "Our biggest goal is to prevent the loss of cultural assets in Malatya after the earthquake, to bring these works back to the city's memory, to restore them, to contribute to tourism and economy, and to pass them on to future generations."
Stating that one should always be prepared for earthquakes, Aytaç said, “While a new structure is being formed, we have a responsibility to protect, document, restore and transfer cultural assets to the future as much as possible. That's why we're all here. Our main goal is to deliver destroyed and endangered works to the museum. This mission still continues. "We work intensively in Malatya center, Battalgazi and Yeşilyurt regions," he said.
Stating that there are problems in the restoration works when we look at the construction of historical monuments, Aytaç said, “People have lives and memories here. If the restoration of a historical building is very necessary, it must be done accurately and in accordance with the original and the laws and rules must be followed. New buildings can always be built, but cultural assets need to be protected in order not to lose memory. In order not to lose cultural assets, it is necessary to keep them on the agenda. "Everyone should know their responsibility," he said.
The program ended with questions and answers asked by the participants.
