A villa with a swimming pool built on top of the tombs of the King of Caria in Turgutreis in southwestern Turaaa causes outrage among locals and historians

YAŞAR ANTER
MUĞLA – Doğan News Agency


A new chapter was added to the story of destruction of nature and history near the tourist resort of Bodrum on the Aegean coast with a contractor building a villa with a swimming pool over 3500 year-old world-renowned tombs.

The huge tombs belonging to the kings of Caria a pre-Hellenic seafaring people who founded a kingdom in the southwest of Anatolia in today's Muğla province who existed from the 11th century B.C. until they became a Persian satrapy in 545 B.C.

According to Wikipedia the Iliad records that at the time of the Trojan War the city of Miletus belonged to the Carians and was allied to the Trojan cause. They are seen as being an offshoot of the Minoan civilization based in Crete.

The matter came to light after Professor Fahri Işık from Akdeniz University's Department of History and Archaeology went on a tour of the Carian civilization remains in the region with his assistant Özay Kartal. Having just held a seminar on Mysians in Bodrum last Saturday Işık was shocked to see that villas were built over the tombs of Carian kings. The tombs were registered by the Muğla Culture and Nature Protection Board two years ago after they were discovered by Bodrum Museum archaeologists.

He noted that construction machinery was used to break the stairs of the tombs while tombs were broken to pass water pipes. Işık also said that barbed wire fence and solid walls were erected around some tombs.

Işık said the Bodrum Peninsula was a very important historical region with the remains of the Mycian Caria and Leleg civilizations. “The peninsula is rich in history and civilization. The recent construction boom in the region resulted in serious destruction of culture in the region. This should be stopped. Such historical remains of immense value being located on the private lands of people does not mean they have the right to destroy them.”



‘The tombs are ours'

The contractor İsa Şahinkaya said he was not the only one to build over the tombs noting that the land was legally his.

“We purchased the villas after construction began. These tombs are on our land. Many villas were built on tombs before and no one said anything. The tombs may be damaged a bit during construction but we got all the necessary permits.”



Inquiry:

Bodrum Administrator Abdullah Kalkan speaking to the Doğan News Agency said he had asked Bodrum Underwater Museum Director Yaşar Yıldız to study the area as soon as he heard of the matter. “What is done is an insult to thousands of years of history and culture. We are having a hard time protecting our historical sites. I've started an inquiry and will file both an administrative and criminal complaint based on experts' reports. We will protect the area” he said.

Turgutreis municipal officials also conducted an inquiry at the site yesterday finding out that only one swimming pool of the six villas was built illegally.

It was said that the building licenses for the villas were issued in 2002 before the tombs were registered as a cultural treasure.



Local anger:

One local Hatice Erbil 65 said despite their constant warnings nothing was done to stop the contractors from destroying the tombs. “They broke the tombs with construction equipment. The plots were sold several times and we could not find anyone to complain” she said.