Turkish warplanes have bombed and evidently badly damaged the Iron Age temple of Ain Dara in Northern Syria as part of their campaign against Kurdish separatists.
Far from expressing outrage, the major archaeological lobbying groups including the AIA, ASOR and the Antiquities Coalition have remained silent.
But why? A cynic might think these groups are more concerned about angering the Turkish government than in maintaining a consistent message.
After all, the Turkish Government offers archaeologists associated with these groups valuable excavation permits for archaeological sites within the country.
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2 comments:
Hello Peter:
You write; "A cynic might think these groups are more concerned about angering the Turkish government than in maintaining a consistent message...After all, the Turkish Government offers archaeologists associated with these groups valuable excavation permits for archaeological sites within the country."
Shocking! Shocking! Why do you only imagine it's cynics that would think such a thing? Seems to me you have raised the spectre of one of archaeology's great no-questions-asked, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, under-the-counter deals that seems so prevalent (and popular) with archaeologists toadying up to authoritarian regimes for licences to strip highly lucrative sites.
This international bleeding-dry by collection-driven exploiters of the archaeological record (for profit) is not wholly surprising given the past record.
Best
John Howland
UK Collector & Detectorist
It's called "selective hearing, thinking and reporting".......
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