Teams from Türkiye´s cultural ministry are already taking care of the cultural heritage of the country after the earthquake

This article was first published by TRT World.

A vast treasure of cultural riches was jolted by the “disaster of the century”. The country is now healing its wounds and also caring for this heritage.
With eyes wide open, the bust of Hittite King Suppiluliuma watched on as a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck southern Türkiye.

And as the earth trembled underneath, the 3,000-year-old sculpture stood still on its pedestal at the Hatay Archaeology Museum.

Outside, across 11 provinces and in neighbouring Syria, the world crumbled – towns and cities were reduced to rubble in the twin earthquakes on February 6. At the last count, the number of deaths stood over 52,000 across the two nations.

The statue survived the twin temblors. But many other artefacts and monuments of historical and archaeological importance did not.