We cannot protect culture with 700 archeologists

Archeology is a branch of science that researches, documents and tries to interpret, based on material findings, the cultural and social orders of human communities that lived in the past. Ancient artifacts are preserved not because of their aesthetic beauties, but because they are historic documents.   

In the first years of the Republic, 25 archeological museums were opened in 17 years; in the 20 years from 1940 to 1960, the number of museums founded was 10. 

While in 1923 our museums had 109,000 artifacts, this figure reached 759,000 in 1934. Today, our museums have around 3 million artifacts. We have 189 public museums and 183 private.

In the United States, the number of museums is 17,500, in Germany 6,501 and in Italy, our strongest rival in tourism, 3,790.

Our country, which has seen three empires throughout its history and has hosted 72 civilizations, unfortunately does not have enough museums.

Between the years 1929 and 1934, there were 287 experts and civil servants working in our museums. In the 1950s, when this field lost its priority, museums started working with one key and one manager.

The flow to the center and to major museums could not be prevented. Many museums were without a manager, officer and archeologist. Most of them were managed by acting managers for 15 to 20 years, a problem which is still not solved.

The Ministry of Culture was always listed as one of the last items in the budget and protocols. It was assigned under the Prime Ministry, then Education Ministry, then Youth and Sports, then Ministry of Tourism; then, again, it was made an independent ministry. Then it was again incorporated with the Ministry of Tourism. The directorates were separated, and then joined...