Salim Uzun – Sanliurfa
The ancient ruins of Gobekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey, famous for containing some of civilization’s oldest structures, have recently become a hotspot for people hoping to make money offering “spiritual coaching” or so-called psychotherapy sessions.
Recent reports and social media posts have highlighted an increasing number of private individuals organizing paid tours of the archaeological wonder, known as “ground zero” and believed to be the site of some of the oldest religious ceremonies.
Numerous videos show participants in tears after supposedly being released from the trauma during the so-called sessions at Göbeklitepe, with many of them exploiting the situation to make money.
One individual who claims Göbeklitepe is an “alien airport” is charging an exorbitant fee of 69,000 Turkish lira with the promise of curing phobias and trauma – promises that are completely unrealistic.
In response, many psychiatrists denounced the men as frauds and called for them to cease their activities immediately.
Archaeologists also voiced their opposition, stressing that such deception goes against the scientific and historical importance of the ancient site.
“If you put all their contributions together you would have a book of fabrications, but not a single one of them has a reliable source. Are they receiving divine inspiration? Are they in communication with aliens? These structures are not energy-collecting monuments. It’s all a lie. They claim to have made discoveries,” said Hava Ishkan Ishk, a professor at Akdeniz University’s archaeology department and leader of the Patara excavation team.
Ishq stressed that such actions will encourage illegal excavators and cause concrete damage to the image and integrity of the archaeological site.
“The search for the mystery behind every stone and declaring even the most mundane carving ‘here lies a secret’ is what emboldens treasure hunters to blow up artefacts with dynamite. This situation is both tragic and ridiculous. These structures were not built so that you could come, play music, cry, stretch your hands and get energy from them,” she argued.
Ishq stressed that many of his colleagues are worried about the exploitation of these ancient sites and called for an end to such activities at historical sites.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently took action against the explosion of exploitation of ancient ruins, asking social media organisations to monitor and block posts by treasure hunters spreading information about illegal excavations on social media.
Treasure hunters carry out illegal excavations in various regions, take high-definition videos and photos to gain more followers, and sell metal detectors claiming to be the first to find faked artifacts.
