Online face-to-face members’ meeting from Turkey

FRH invites its members and those interested to a new online face-to-face meeting in which we will explore ongoing efforts to safeguard abandoned religious heritage sites in Turkey. The session will be led by Çağla Parlak, Vice-Chair of the Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (Kültürel Mirası Koruma Derneği – KMKD) which specialises in the documentation and risk assessment of abandoned sacred heritage buildings, offering recommendations for mitigating threats. After the earthquakes of February 2023, KMKD’s work has focused on the damage assessment of cultural heritage. Their findings and recommendations will be reflected in a report that will be released soon.

During the session, Çağla will provide an overview of the preservation challenges faced by abandoned sacred heritage in Turkey, along with the documentation efforts and protection initiatives undertaken by KMKD. She will also share some of the reports published in recent years and the new report to be published.

The session will take place on 24 May from 12:00 to 13:00 CEST.

Register here

Featured speaker

Çağla Parlak

Çağla Parlak holds a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Istanbul University and furthered her studies in Museum Management. Between 2015 and 2020, she worked as a Projects Manager at the Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.

She has led numerous endeavors in the field of cultural heritage, including post-earthquake documentation, architectural heritage at risk and capacity-building projects. Throughout her career, she has also actively contributed to research projects focusing on threats to religious sites and policy-level changes in cultural heritage management. In 2017, Çağla was nominated from Turkey to participate in the International Visitors Leadership Program of the US Department of State, where she focused on cultural heritage preservation. In 2022, she was honored as a Europa Nostra fellow in Brussels.

Currently, she is the Vice-Chair of KMKD and a freelance project manager for different organizations mainly in the cultural preservation domain with a specific focus on minority heritage, cultural rights, and promotion of intercultural dialogue.