Türkiye'de dünya miras alanlarının korunmasına yönelik çalışmaların etkinliği: Kapadokya örneği

Abstract

Bu çalışma, üstün evrensel değerlere sahip Dünya Miras Alanlarının, sıradan koruma çalışmaları ile korunamayacağını ve özel statü ile ele alınması gerektiğini savunmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, 1984 yılından beri UNESCO Dünya Mirası Listesinde bulunan, Göreme Milli Parkı ve Kapadokya Bölgesi'nin sınırları içerisinde bulunan, miras korunması ve geliştirilmesinden sorumlu yönetim birimleri ile ilgili planları hazırlayan özel sektörün görüşlerine başvurularak bölgenin sorunları incelenmiştir. UNESCO Dünya Miraslarından; Amerika, Fransa ve İtalya'dan miras örnekleri yasal, yönetsel ve teknik açıdan Kapadokya Bölgesi ile birlikte ele alınırken miras koruma yaklaşımları karşılaştırılmıştır. Ayrıca, Bölgedeki Koruma Amaçlı İmar Planlarının hazırlanması, incelenmesi ve onaylanması süreçlerindeki yönetimsel ve uygulamaya dayalı problemlere neden olan etmenler küresel, ulusal ve yerel olmak üzere üç düzeyde karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmiştir. Kapadokya'nın koruma düzeyinin anlaşılması için, yerinde yapılan araştırmalar ile uluslararası ve ulusal bağlamda yapılan karşılaştırmalar, kişisel görüşmeler, UNESCO, mevzuat ve akademik verilere dayanmaktadır. Ayrıca, Kapadokya Bölgesi'nin korunması ve geliştirilmesindeki aktörlerden; 8 yerel İdare ile 8 özel sektör katılımcısından toplanan görüşler ile bu bölgenin korunmasındaki sorun ve tehditlerin tanımı yapılmıştır. Tüm bunların sonucunda, Kapadokya Bölgesinde bütüncül yönetimsel yaklaşımı olması gereken paradigma değişiminin gerekli olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Ancak, söz konusu önerilen sistemin, miras koruma konusunda etkili olması için sahip olması gereken koruma esaslı vizyonla birlikte, bölgedeki sorunları ve tehditleri yok etmesi gerekmektedir. Bölgenin değerlerini korumaya ve geliştirmeye yönelik teknik yaklaşımlar ve potansiyelini ortaya çıkaracak bütüncül politikaların üretilmesinin yanı sıra liyakatin öne çıkarılarak yeterli kadro yapısının oluşturulması gerekmektedir.

World Heritage Sites are an example of the ties between nations and generations so their conservation is a global concern. World heritage areas are threatened by serious dangers such as fire, earthquakes, civil war, economic crisis, mismanagement, lack of technical support, rapid urban development, and mass tourism. The significance and outstanding universal values of these heritage sites cannot be conserved with standard approaches. On the contrary, sustainable conservation of them requires spatial and exclusive implementations. This thesis suggests that unique natural and cultural assets from World Heritage Sites in the Cappadocia Region cannot be sustainably protected. In this context, it has been questioned whether it is possible to provide effective protection of these sites by developing legal administrative and technical tools and proposing solutions to existing problems. Thus, evaluations have been made and applicable suggestions have been developed based on similar examples in the world and the current problems of the region to ensure sustainable conservation and development. The concept and the approaches to the protection of cultural and natural heritage assets in the world have always been dynamic throughout history. After evaluating this process with the theory of paradigm and paradigm shift, these paradigms can be determined as below: • Preservation paradigm: absolute protection of particular objects, without any intervention, by preserving the current condition as it was in the past. • Conservation paradigm: protecting for a purpose, conserving as a district, not as a piece. The minimum intervention of past conditions to adapt to the present. • Heritage paradigm: using for contemporary needs. Creating something, using the past, for the future, and not preserving the past as it was. Shifts between these paradigms occur because of significant crises and events as well as reactions to them during the process. Before World War II, there were movements for the conservation of outstanding valued sites and every country was responsible for the conservation of their own cultural and natural assets. The conservation focus shifted with the results of war and the idea of world heritage arose in 1946 with the establishment of UNESCO. The declaration of the Venice Charter in 1964 and the establishment of ICOMOS in 1965 shaped the technical standards for conservation. World heritage sites became official with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972. Also, the world cultural and natural heritage criteria became determined for the UNESCO World Heritage List. Globalization, mass tourism, and neoliberal approaches led to another shift that we are currently in. The UNESCO World Heritage List contains more than 1100 properties as of 2020. Currently, there are multiple heritage sites all around the world struggling with different types of problems depending on the country, geography, political issues where the heritage site is located. For example, the Cathédrale Notre Dame in Paris caught on fire because of an accident. Additionally, significant cultural assets in the Site of Palmyra became damaged and destroyed during the Syrian Civil War. Apart from these universally known world heritage sites in danger, some of them are in danger while not being on UNESCO's endangered list such as the Cappadocia Region, which is the focus of this research. Europe and North America have more heritage sites than all of the other countries, however, they have the least amount of heritage sites in danger, so that they must have the best heritage management systems, legally, administratively and technically. For this reason, similar examples from U.S.A, Italy, France are compared with the Cappadocia Region to develop applicable, sustainable solutions for current problems and possible threats. The Cappadocia region, which is under threat according to the hypothesis of this research, must be guided in the right direction by exploring the successfully protected UNESCO World Heritage sites from legal, administrative, and technical points of view. Thus, the chosen examples have universal values with historical and cultural features, including natural rock structures and human interaction similar to Cappadocia and features related to it as shown below: • U.S.A, Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park (National Park) • Italy, Basilicata, Sassi di Matera (Settlement Area) • France, Aquitaine Region, Vezere Valley (Underground Sites) • Turkey, Cappadocia Region (Combine of National Park, Settlements, and underground sites) The Cappadocia Region gained a Cultural and Natural World Heritage double status in 1985 with the name of "Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia". Components of this world heritage site include a national park, rural and urban settlements, and underground cities. The first settlements in the region date back to the Neolithic times around 15,000 years ago. The region hosted the Hittites, Persians, Zoroastrians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, Ottomans, and finally, at the present Turkish Republic. Conservation paradigms shifted parallel with global events. Until the establishment of UNESCO, local powers were responsible for the preservation of cultural and natural assets in the region. In 1945, Turkey became a member of UNESCO. Then, Turkey went on to join the Venice Charter in 1965 as well as Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972. These global movements created the current dynamics of the heritage management system in Turkey. The heritage management system of the Cappadocia region was based on Turkish legislation and administrations until 2019. The aforementioned legislation and administrations are listed below. • Constitution Act 63. Article (1982). • Protection of Cultural and Natural Resources Act No. 2863 (1983); Culture and Tourism Ministry and Environment and Urbanization Ministry. • National Parks Act No. 2873 (1983); Agriculture and Forestry Ministry. The changes and the reasons behind changes experienced in the conservation of Cappadocia heritage assets in recent years are examined within the scope of this thesis. To solve the problems that the Cappadocia region struggles with, the Turkish government reforms and changes the legal and administrative tools. Using personal interviews from authorities and technical professionals about the conservation issues in the Cappadocia Region, this thesis examines current events and media as well as legislative and administrative changes to explore the dynamics of the region. Turkey's economy was based on the construction sector since 2002. This affected the approaches to conservation site areas in the Cappadocia Region because of several modifications and changes in legislation, such as: • In 2011, the Environmental and Urbanization Ministry was founded and the authority of natural heritages was transferred from the Culture and Tourism Ministry. This divided the management of cultural and natural assets. • In 2017, the definition and border of the natural site areas changed. • In 2017, rock carving and using standardized with legislation. • In 2018, illegal and inconvenient settlements became legalized with zoning peace legislation. In the Turkish Tourism Strategical Plan (2007), the Cappadocia Region was designated as the Cultural and Belief Tourism Focus. Also, most of the heritage sites are private property in the Cappadocia Region and this situation leads to several problems such as: • Demands of tourism in conservation sites (e.g., hotels, stores, restaurants) • Demands of locals in conservation sites (e.g., residential buildings, commercial buildings, roads) In February of 2019, a licensed hotel in Göreme, between two fairy chimneys, became a trending issue on social media. A public movement started, supported by media, and asked for discipline and preservation in the Cappadocia Region. This hotel was approved and legal, nevertheless, the demolishing process of illegal and inconvenient buildings and projects in the region commenced. The demolishing process brought on the turning point of a paradigm. Throughout this whole process, the Cappadocia Region suffered damages to its universal values. The legal and administrative paradigm shift factors are listed below chronologically. The demolishing process brought on turning point of a paradigm. Legal and administrative paradigm shift factors listed below chronologically; • Cappadocia Region Act No. 7174 (2019); Cappadocia Land Management Presidency. • Presidential Decision No 1673 (2019); The national park status was removed from Göreme Valley Interviews with eight local authorities and eight technical professionals, who prepared conservation development plans in the region between 2000 and 2020, expand the data of this thesis and help determine the problems in these places. The personal interviews were carried out with authorities and responsible professionals of the previous land management system who are in the current boundary of the Cappadocia Land Management system which includes Ürgüp, Göreme, Uçhisar, Ortahisar. The main results of the interviews are listed below. • The size and site types of protected areas under the responsibility of management units and planning firms differ from each other. • The periods in which management units start bidding for conservation and development plans and the processes of passing the approval phase by plan authors of the plans differ from each other. • Conflicts of multiple authorities. There are three ministries, one conservation council, one conservation committee, and eight municipalities responsible for the conservation of one regions' different parts. For example, Göreme is a settlement that is in a National Park with natural and urban site areas. Plans for natural and cultural sites of Göreme are prepared by different planning firms. Those plans examined by different councils and committees and approved by different ministries. • There is an insufficient number of qualified technical staff working in the local authorities. • Lack of supervision in conservation areas. • Lack of public awareness and knowledge about heritage conservation. Based on the concepts and literature of this research and the data from the interviews, there are solutions and suggestions for a new paradigm of the Cappadocia Region for sustainable conservation and development; • Cappadocia Land Management Presidency must have a Park Service department similar to Mesa Verde. This service must include an adequate number of researchers and Park Rangers to determine the special places, and preserve and supervise them regularly with a park management plan. This conservation plan must be inclusive and participatory. Also, these special places must be expropriated. • Provide common architectural, urban, environmental, social, and economic integrity in every settlement showing the characteristics of the Cappadocia Region. Within the scope of the Cappadocia Land Management Presidency; establishment of archaeological, historical, and urban conservation institutes to examine each Cappadocia settlement and places similar to Sassi di Matera. Provide funding for research and development work and renovation and restoration. Provide protection ethics, raising awareness, and raising voluntary activities by the administrative units and the public, especially the mayors and administrators. Also, learning from Sassi and being sensitive about gentrification. • Cappadocia Land Management Presidency must have international, national, and regional science councils like Vezere Valley example. Likewise, museum and research center initiatives should be supported and they should be members of councils depending on their level of participation. Also, the museum model of Vezere Valley must be developed for underground cities. To ensure the absolute protection and development of Underground Cities and Caves. In conclusion, there are numerous world heritage sites struggling, each with its own set of problems. These areas are under pressure and cannot be conserved with conventional measures. This requires innovative and customized solutions tailored to the needs of each unique site. The Cappadocia region, which is under threat according to the hypothesis of this research, must be guided in the right direction by exploring the successfully protected UNESCO World Heritage sites, or else damages to its universal values is inevitable. The degree to which Cappadocia is protected is explored with site research and comparisons made from the international and national perspectives. The results are based on interviews, UNESCO, legislation, and academic data. Apart from the actors in the protection and development of the Cappadocia Region, the opinions collected from eight local administrations and eight private sector participants have identified the problems and threats about the protection of this region. A paradigm shift, which should have an integrated managerial approach, is required in the Cappadocia Region. The new system must eliminate the problems and threats in the region and must be effective in heritage protection by including staff to preserve and supervise them regularly.