Evaluation of the conservation activities in the historical settlement Tenedos-Bozcaada Island

Abstract

The efforts for the conservation of cultural heritage in historical settlements are a highly problematic and multi-faceted issue in Turkey. Although the conservation legislation dates back 50 years, the cultural heritage has not been internalized and not accepted in wider parts of the society and, has not found a solid political base. The historical and cultural heritage areas are mostly marketed for tourism and turned into places as the simulacrum of the elitist and middle class tastes. Tenedos (Bozcaada) Island inherits the rich cultural heritage of two millennia. The Island is in danger of losing its social, cultural and multi-ethnical characteristic where Turkish and Greek societies live harmoniously. The architectural, economic and ecological values are also in danger because of the rise of touristic activities and the construction of vacation homes as well as the State's withdrawal to provide subsidy to the agricultural sector that took place after the 1980s in parallel with the general economic policies adopting global economic restructuring. The objective of the paper is to highlight the multidimensional character of the social and spatial process which is enmeshed in the conservation activities of the Island. The values and norms, social, economic considerations in the conservation activities need a new approach and, without existence of a common will and a wider participation of the society it is hard to expect any success in the conservation of the rich cultural values, and to assess, develop and carry them into the future. A bundle of techniques are used: a large survey analysis of the area is realized and its social, historical and physical characteristics are documented. Questionnaires, in-depth interviews are used in order to detect the difficulties for conservation of the heritage in part of the responsible public bodies. The public and tourism sector opinions, thoughts and aspirations are surveyed. Even though, the preservation of Tenedos Island's cultural heritage appears to be a difficult challenge, there seems to be some positive clues for the future. © 2011 WIT Press.