The event aims to bring international attention to Karahantepe. (AA Photo)
Amateur radio operators in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa promoted Karahantepe, a major Neolithic archaeological site, to a global audience by setting up a dedicated station and antennas on location.
As part of an initiative to promote Türkiye’s historical heritage, members of the Turkish Radio Amateur Association (TRAC) secured permits to broadcast directly from the active excavation site at Karahantepe.
The team installed radio equipment in a dedicated room at the Karahantepe Visitor Center and erected high-reaching antennas outdoors.
Using the special call sign “TC8KHT” assigned for the event, amateur radio operators established contacts with stations in different parts of the world and provided information about Karahantepe.
Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, TRAC Deputy Chairman Hüdaverdi Güneş said that the year-in-the-making event aimed to bring international attention to Karahantepe.
Expressing pride in launching the initiative from Şanlıurfa, Güneş noted that modern radio gear enabled them to reach nearly 1,000 stations across 40 countries during the three-day broadcast.
Güneş said that operators shared historical overviews of Karahantepe during transmissions and directed contacts to official websites for more detail. Several international listeners were already familiar with the site, including a German operator who had followed television reports about the upcoming broadcast and local history.
İbrahim Halil Seysenbek, head of TRAC’s Şanlıurfa branch, praised the 11-member team from across Türkiye who spent three days transmitting via a 20-meter antenna under the special call sign “TC8KHT.”
Highlighting the project’s purpose, Seysenbek stated. “We are telling the whole world, or all the stations we reach and address in our calls, that Karahantepe is the zero point of history.”
