Another important project of the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration within the scope of Basin and Belt-Based Geological Surveys is the “Turkey Geological Heritage Surveys” project launched in Iğdır in June 2022. The project, which includes many experts from the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration, carried out its work in the region in 2023 under the management of Korhan Çakır. Although the “Geological Heritage Survey of Turkey” project concentrates its activities in and around the province of Igdir, it also covers provinces such as Ağrı, Ardahan, Artvin, Bayburt, Bingöl, Bitlis, Erzincan, Erzurum, Kars, Muş, Van, Tunceli, Hakkari, Siirt and Diyarbakır.
The General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration, which has been conducting important research in Igdir, Mount Ararat, Tuzluca and their immediate surroundings since 2022, is expanding its work in the region with new projects this year. One of these projects is the “Vertebrate Paleontology - Giant Rhinos” project launched in May 2024 within the scope of Museum Research. The project is led by Prof. Dr. Neşe OYAL and includes MTA's team and many academics from different universities in Turkey.
MTA carries out its activities in the region in close cooperation with our Research Center, and Dr. Adem Yulu and Dr. Mehmet Ali Sevgi, the director of our Research Center, support them in their fieldwork as consultants. In their work in Tuzluca this year, new finds belonging to different vertebrate groups were found in the giant rhinoceros fossil locality. These finds, which are extremely important in terms of Turkey's geological heritage studies, are considered as one of the important steps towards the possible declaration of Mount Ararat and its immediate surroundings as a geopark in the near future. Studies on different vertebrate groups in the giant rhinoceros fossil locality are expected to continue in the coming years.
