An exhibition and symposium on Arslantepe was held at Italy's La Sapienza University, which has been carrying out excavations for many years at the Arslantepe Mound in Malatya, which is on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List.

While the exhibition titled "Arslantepe 2024: Past, present and future of a new UNESCO site" was opened in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sapienza University and Yunus Emre Institute Rome Turkish Cultural Center, a symposium was also held with the same title.

Sapienza Üniversitesi Edebiyat ve Felsefe Fakültesi’nin ev sahipliği yaptığı etkinliğe, Kültür ve Turizm Bakan Yardımcısı Gökhan Yazgı, Türkiye’nin Roma Büyükelçisi Ömer Gücük, Türkiye’nin Vatikan Büyükelçisi Ufuk Ulutaş, Malatya Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı Selahattin Gürkan, Malatya İnönü Üniversitesi Rektörü Prof. Ahmet Kızılay, La Sapienza Üniversitesi Rektörü Prof. Antonella Polimeni, Arslantepe Höyüğü Kazı Başkanı Prof. Dr. Francesca Balossi Restelli ve Arslantepe Höyüğü Kazıları Onursal Başkanı Roma La Sapienza Üniversitesi Öğretim Üyesi Prof. Dr. Marcella Frangipane katıldı.

Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Gökhan Yazgı, Türkiye's Ambassador to Rome Ömer Güçlük, Türkiye 's Ambassador to the Vatican Ufuk Ulutaş, Malatya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Selahattin Gürkan, Malatya İnönü University Rector Prof. Ahmet Kızılay, Rector of La Sapienza University Prof. Antonella Polimeni, Head of Arslantepe Mound Excavations Professor Francesca Balossi Restelli and Honorary President of Arslantepe Mound Excavations, Lecturer at Rome La Sapienza University Professor Dr. Marcella Frangipane attended to the event hosted by Sapienza University Faculty of Literature and Philosophy

At the beginning of the event, the exhibition consisting of Arslantepe photographs was first opened by Deputy Minister Yazgı, Ambassador Güçlük and La Sapienza University Rector Professor Polimeni.

Later, a symposium was held at Arslantepe Mound, where the work carried out by La Sapienza University for 63 years was evaluated.

Speaking at the opening of the symposium, Yazgı stated that they wanted to organize these events last year, but could not do so due to the February 6 earthquakes, and thanked Italy and their Italian friends for the support they received during the earthquake.

Commenting that Arslantepe Mound was affected by the February 6 earthquakes and said, "Arslantepe Mound, which has existed for thousands of years, suffered minor damage in the earthquakes in question. We made the necessary on-site detections with our esteemed teacher Francesca and repaired the minor damages. We took precautions to minimize the effects of aftershocks." Yazgı said.

Ambassador Güçlük also thanked La Sapienza University for its contributions to the Arslantepe excavations and for hosting this event.

Rector Professor Polimeni also stated that the archaeological research in the Arslantepe Mound is strongly supported by the university administration and that this will continue at the same level in cooperation with international and local authorities.

After the symposium, participants were presented a special plaque to commemorate the event.

Yazgı: "We were very happy with the interest of the students"

In his statement after the event, stating that Arslantepe is the first place where the bureaucratic system was seen systematically with settled life in Anatolia, Mesopotamia and the world,  "Arslantepe is very important for us. It will be included in the World Permanent Heritage List in 2021. We made it this way with the hard work of my teacher Marcella from La Sapienza University and our excavation leader Francesca." Deputy Minister Yazgı said.

Yazgı noted the following about the event:

"We organized such an exhibition to explain the importance of our Arslantepe Mound in the world. The participation was very good. We also held a nice symposium with the participation of many scientists in Italy. In this way, Italy is the second country that has done the most excavations. We have 6 excavations. Our exchange of ideas with the scientists here continues. A nice synergy has been created with both Turkish and Italian scientists, Germans from abroad and participants from many countries. We have seen a great interest from the students. They constantly ask us questions, tell us about Arslantepe, are curious about Türkiye and they also participate in these studies in Türkiye. They expressed that they wanted to participate. This made us very happy."

"La Sapienza University is an important university for Malatya"

Thanking those who contributed to this event held at La Sapienza University, "La Sapienza University is an important university for Malatya. When we look at it in the past, Rome has been researching the history of Malatya, and therefore the history of humanity, like digging a well with a needle, since 1961. We saw the faculty members of La Sapienza University. These people sacrificed their lives in researching human civilization and revealing Anatolian civilizations. In this sense, we unanimously granted honorary citizenship to those who dedicated their lives here in the municipal council." Malatya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Gürkan.

Malatya İnönü University will Continue to Contribute to Excavations

Stating that they were very happy about this event in Rome, "As the university, we will continue to contribute to the scientific studies and excavations carried out in Arslantepe throughout this process." Malatya İnönü University Rector Prof. Kızılay said.

"I devoted most of my life to this job"

Kızılay stated that they should especially mention the work of scientists of La Sapienza University and made the following assesment: "I would like to thank and congratulate them for this long effort and devoted work. Malatya has made this treasure of our country a great effort to the world with the coordination and permission of our Ministry of Culture and Tourism." Together, we have contributed to its heritage. I would like to express that from now on, we will have access to data that will shed light on a much richer history of humanity with new finds."

Stating that working in Arslantepe was beyond happiness for him, "I devoted most of my life to this work. I worked in Arslantepe for 45 years and managed the excavation for more than 30 year.  Honorary Chairman of Arslantepe Mound Excavations, Lecturer at Rome La Sapienza University, Professor Frangipane also said.

Explaining that they worked in full harmony and without any problems with everyone, "This excavation was a beautiful and rich experience, not only from a scientific perspective, but also because it added a lot to me. Based on the Arslantepe data, I was able to work on many general issues such as the origins of the state and the origins of inequalities in many countries. Frankly, "It gave me the opportunity to do my research, thus enriching my knowledge, but it was also nice." Frangipane said,

"Every time I went there, I was happy and when I left, I was sad. Because I felt good there, because the people were very compassionate and brotherly." Frangipane concluded.