About the Istanbul City walls, which is one of the key elements creating the historical identity of the city, as a group of architects, archeologists and preservation specialists following the  “Istanbul Theodosius II City Walls: Meaning of restoration and Implications” meeting between 31.10.2005 – 2.11.2005, we have determined the issues listed below:

As a result of the restoration process that is going on for the last 20 years, except for the work of Prof Metin Ahunbay and Prof Zeynep Ahunbay on the Yedikule-Seaside zone; 

•Unity  of this great and complex monumental structure has been fundamentally deteriorated

•Architectural reading of the meaning layers and perception of the aesthetical reality of the monument, have become relatively impossible.

•Visibility of the historical phases that the structure went through and features that refer to these periods have been abolished in contrary to the Venice Regulations that was signed by Turkey as well.

•Since there restoration applications lacked a comprehensive and coherent general program, unity of the monument has been spoiled and an unseemly appearance has been created.

•Furthermore because of the deficiency of studies that evaluates the monument together with its surroundings (far and near), the area that remained uncontrolled, has suffered a rapid process of deterioration

We want to draw attention to the fact that this monument can be decreased from the UNESCO historical heritage inventory list because of these irreversible and inappropriate implementations on this magnificent monument that took place within the last twenty years.

Within this context, an efficient restoration construction site can provide us with the opportunity of reestablishing our knowledge on:

•Ottoman and Byzantine construction techniques

•Developments in defense and attack methods in a period of thousand years  

•Pathologies regarding earthquakes and anti-seismic construction techniques

In accordance with the observations and the diagnosis above, in the restoration attempts that will take place in the future, local governments and authorized institutions should assure: .  

•Preparation of a portfolio containing archeological research, measure drawing, topographical studies and photographs and filing of these archives open to public before appealing for the tender.

•Again before the tender takes place, preparation of a detailed restoration project in accordance with the data gathered.

•Onsite inspection of the restoration process by the specialists

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As a result, it will be adequate:

•To establish an international committee of ethics that will approve the restoration methods and preferences

•To ensure more transparency and more participation to the tenders and basing the election on the positive experiences of the company and the quality of the team that will undertake the project rather the lowest bid

•To settle for a consolidation instead of a restitution on the city walls and whenever a restitution is necessary, to use the modern materials to prevent false readings and complications

•To conduct an archeological research on the area starting from the frontal moat extending behind the city walls and continuing in the inner defense system to establish the stratigraphic relationships between the different elements of the walls. 

•To establish passages in the surrounding highways and to facilitate the pedestrian movement in both sides of the city walls.

•To take into consideration the activities that determine the life around the city walls like craftsmen and artisans settled in some of the towers and agricultural activities taking place in the moats, to ensure that the city walls are appreciated and protected by these people living near by and creating the consciousness of perceiving these characteristics as something unifying rather than an obstacle.

•To establish an information center and a thematic communication platform that presents the history of the city walls and their formation process and the methods applied in the restoration with means of various communication elements and consequently to create a real educational environment.

French Anatolian Research Institute, Istanbul, November 2nd 2005 
 
Signatures

Prof. Etienne PONCELET

Prof. Marie POIX-TETU

Dr. Mehmet ALPER

Stéphane DEMETER

Jean-François PEROUSE

Pınar ARABACIOGLU

Prof. Gianni PERBELLINI

Prof. Dr. Nur AKIN

Aykut KÖKSAL

Prof. Dr. Füsun ALİOĞLU

Doç. Dr. Nadide SEÇKİN

Damien BISCHOFF

Prof. Işık AYDEMIR

Nicolas FAUCHERRE

Korhan GÜMÜŞ

Doç. Dr. Berrin ALPER

Orhan SİLİER

Ebru ERDÖNMEZ

Source of Photos
Prof. Dr. Işık AYDEMİR

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