EU envoy to Turkey visits famed Gobeklitepe site

SANLIURFA, Turkey

The head of a EU delegation to Turkey visited the famed ancient site of Gobeklitepe on Thursday.

Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said as part of his visit to southeastern Sanliurfa province that he was happy to be in the cradle of humanity in Gobeklitepe -- known as the world’s oldest temple and listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.

“I’m not only here for history and archeology, but also for today’s projects and programs,” said Meyer-Landrut, while noting the large number of Syrian refugees in the city.

Part of those projects is working on solutions to the burden caused by the refugee population. He said officials are trying to ease that responsibility with the support of EU programs and employment and vocational training were the main focus of meetings with the mayor of Sanliurfa.

“Great effort shown in Sanliurfa to host Syrian guests,” Meyer-Landrut said as he praised efforts.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Millions of Syrians have been displaced as the war continued; Turkey adopted an open-door policy for Syrians to prevent additional civilian casualties and currently hosts more than 3.6 million Syrians under the status of people under temporary protection.

*Writing by Sena Guler​​​​​​​