4 research outputs found
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Panel 10 Rural Heritage Places in Turkey: Different Contexts | Diverse Issues | Distinct Responses
Rural heritage places are social, cultural, economic and natural environments shaped according to the habitat in which they are located. Thus, they are unique places where people and natural environment are in constant interaction. However, rural heritage places in Turkey, face with various problems similar to those in the world such as depopulation, changes in policies for agricultural production and excessive cultural tourism.
In the panel; complex physical, social and economic structure of rural heritage places and the problems that they are faced with today will be discussed with reference to three different villages from different regions of Turkey. The selected rural heritage places for this study are Kemer in Aegean Region, Taşkale in Central Anatolia Region and Gaziköy in Thrace. These three cases are selected as the representatives of rural heritage places in Turkey with different contexts and diverse conservation issues due to their differing natural, architectural, social and economic features, values and problems.
Kemer is a continuously settled village with very well-preserved physical environment which is currently under the threat of being abandoned due to decrease in economic income based on agricultural production. On the contrary, Gaziköy (Ganos) represents the villages where the rural life and production is very well preserved while physical environment is under the threat of being damaged both due to continuous use as well as strict conservation policies. Taşkale preserves its physical environment as well as its inhabitants. However, due to its spectacular natural and manmade properties, it is defined as a conservation and cultural tourism development area through the top down decisions of the central government and thus lost its rural spirit.
Accordingly, the panel discussion is composed of following presentations:
(i) From Understanding to Action for Conservation and Sustainability of A Rural Heritage Place: Kemer, Turkey
(ii) A Multi-layered Rural Settlement Resisting to Sustain the Rural Habitat: Gaziköy, Turkey
(iii) Contradictions Between Local Values and Top-down Conservation Priorities: Taşkale, Turkey
In the panel, following the presentation of the theme and conceptual framework by the organisers, each case will be explained in detail. The presentations in the panel will firstly introduce the features, values and problems. Eventually, the responses for conservation and sustainability of each of these rural heritage places developed will be presented and discussed
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Panel 10. Paper 10.2: Contradictions Between Local Values and Top-down Conservation Priorities: Taşkale, Turkey
Taşkale village, located on a valley, has been formed by having direct relations with nature within its own dynamics. In its historical continuum, there has always been active and continuous use of places even though functions change in time. The initial settlement starts in rock-cut spaces, then the settlement moves towards the slope of the valley in front of the rock formation. The rock formation has been used for various purposes of inhabitation, storage and worshipping since prehistoric times onwards. The church carved in the rock is still in active use today as a mosque and the rock-cut granaries are used to store agricultural products. The surrounding landscape is also actively used by the inhabitants for agriculture and husbandry purposes. In addition to the active use of the landscape, there are strong intangible relations by inhabitants with nature and their living environment. This is mainly because ongoing life is dependent on nature both for economic and socio-cultural activities. To conclude, Taşkale Village embraces multiple historical, cultural, socio-economic and spiritual values.
However, after the recognition of these multiple local heritage values, conservation site decisions are designated by the central government. Even though these decisions are given for the sake of conservation, the regulations prevent the daily use of these places and abide the conservation actions into set of rules that are contradicting with the ongoing local lifecycle. Besides, state visions about development and economic-benefit oriented tourism policies affect the physical and also socio-economic structure of the village. In the end, contradictions occur between the local values and top-down conservation and development priorities. Due to these contradictions, the inhabitants, who are the active users and guardians of their living environment start to abandon these places, mainly because they cannot continue their daily life activities. Consequently, these places are degraded and lost in time. Within the content of this paper, contradictory values and priorities between locals and decision makers that affect the future of the rural landscapes will be open to discussion deriving from the experiences learnt from the case of Taşkale Village
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Panel 10. Paper 10.3: A Multi-layered Rural Settlement Resisting to Sustain the Rural Habitat: Gaziköy, Turkey
The most important features of rural settlements are the fertile agricultural lands satisfying needs of people, the connections with the regional transportation network and proximity to natural resources such as water and fresh air. These features are important for the continuation of rural life and Gazikoy, which is known as Ganos in ancient period, has always been a rural settlement since antiquity because of them.
Throughout time, Gaziköy (Ganos) in Thrace was inhabited by different cultures. The inhabitation in the village continued all through the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The Gaziköy (Ganos) which had a Rum (Ottoman-Greek) population in Ottoman period was subject to population exchange at the beginning of Turkish Republic; as a result of which the Turks living in Greece and Bulgaria were replaced with the Greeks living in Anatolia with the agreement between Turkey and Greece. Despite the change of population in early republican period, the rural life has always continued in Gaziköy, due to the fact that the land is very fertile.
However, as there are archaeological remains in the area as a result of continuous inhabitancy, there are restrictions for new interventions. Villagers who deal with agricultural activities are not allowed to make any interventions to adapt the traditional houses and infrastructure. As a result of the lack of maintenance and repair, traditional buildings are being damaged in Gaziköy day by day. Although this situation forces the villagers to leave the village, the villagers resist to stay in the area due to continuity of agricultural activities.
The problem of conservation in Gaziköy (Ganos) is to protect all layers of the multi-layered rural landscape while providing the continuity of the rural life. The responses provided to solve these problems focus on the preservation of both of archaeological remains and traditional buildings dating back to late 19th century, the continuation of rural life and agricultural production contrary to strict conservation policies emphasising only the preservation archaeological layer
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Panel 10. Paper 10.1: From Understanding to Action for Conservation and Sustainability of a Rural Heritage Place: Kemer, Turkey
Kemer Village, a historic rural settlement situated in western Anatolia, is a very good representative of rural heritage places of this geography. Well-preserved buildings and settlement tissue of the village, provide invaluable information about spatial and architectural features, construction materials and techniques common to this geography. However, upper scale agricultural production and settlement policies, as well as changing ways of living in time, lead to depopulation, discard, alteration and even destruction of Kemer Village. Besides the physical aspects, its intangible aspects, like local living traditions, beliefs, rituals and indigenous knowledge, are also under the risk of disappearing. Although the population of the village decreased significantly in time, there are still inhabitants and local masons living in the village. Thus, it becomes possible to understand the factors, processes and dynamics of change in this rural settlement, so as to be able to define policies, strategies and actions for the conservation and sustainability.
Although the common tendency to provide an economic development to prevent depopulation of the rural historic areas is to bring touristic activities, this decision disturbs the integrity of social and physical environment. In Kemer Village this tendency has not been initiated yet. Therefore, Kemer Village is on the border of being abandoned or being a touristic destination.
This presentation explains the rural architectural and settlement features of the historical village of Kemer Village, together with indigenous knowledge on living and building traditions, resources and processes. It also discusses the factors, processes and dynamics affecting Kemer Village as an historic rural settlement, and consequently, proposes principles, policies, strategies and actions for the conservation and sustainability of rural heritage place by including all the decision makers, inhabitants and experts to the shared decision-making process