Ministry of Culture and Tourism is conducting extensive conservation and restoration work in its specialized regional laboratories, where experts meticulously preserve and restore historical artifacts — including those repatriated from abroad, damaged by time or recently discovered — to safeguard Türkiye's rich cultural heritage for future generations.
Across the country, 12 restoration and conservation laboratories have so far treated more than 251,000 artifacts.
Conservation, defined as stabilizing movable and immovable cultural assets with minimal intervention, relies on appropriate, reversible materials and methods to preserve objects without altering their original character.
Each artifact undergoes a detailed assessment before treatment, with weakened pieces receiving preliminary consolidation to prevent further deterioration.
Once stabilized, artifacts are subjected to mechanical or chemical cleaning. Specialists carefully select materials and techniques suited to each object’s composition.
Artifacts consisting of multiple fragments are reassembled using suitable adhesives, while those with missing parts are completed with compatible filling materials.
Retouching is then applied to restore visual integrity without obscuring historical authenticity.
A total of 281 personnel, including restorers, conservators and analysts, work across 12 laboratories.
The Ankara Regional Restoration and Conservation Laboratory, the second largest facility of its kind in the country, is currently treating 17 artifacts recently repatriated from the United States as part of Türkiye’s efforts to combat antiquities trafficking.
Laboratory Director and chemist Mustafa Cengiz Özduygulu said advanced techniques are employed to ensure ancient artifacts can be passed on intact to future generations.
He noted that items typically arrive from affiliated museums, alongside seized smuggled artifacts and pieces recovered abroad through international cooperation.
Of the laboratory’s 30 specialists, 24 are directly involved in active conservation work, while six conduct scientific analyses.
“The duration of conservation work varies greatly,” Özduygulu explained. “Some highly sensitive or complex artifacts may take one or even two years to complete, while others can be treated within a single day. It all depends on the object’s size, condition and the level of intervention it allows.”
Regarding the artifacts returned from the U.S., Özduygulu said the collection includes 10 metal objects, five stone artifacts, one glass piece and one item composed of mixed bead strings.
“Based on each object’s material and state of deterioration, we carry out all necessary chemical and mechanical conservation procedures in this laboratory,” he added.
