Palandöken Culture Route Festival Begins...

Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said: "(In the new Erzurum Museum) we took care to use the most advanced technological equipment, along with sound, image, and air-conditioning systems, in exhibiting and preserving the artifacts that embody Erzurum's culture and history."

In his speech at the Erzurum Museum Opening Ceremony, Minister Ersoy said they had launched the Palandöken Culture Route Festival, the Erzurum leg of the Culture Route Festivals, which they began in Beyoğlu, Istanbul, and which they had pledged would be held in different cities in every region of Türkiye.

Stating that they continue to fulfill their promises step by step, Ersoy said: "As of this year, we have brought our festivals to the point of being held in 11 different provinces across our seven regions. We started on August 5 with Cappadocia. Over 9 days, more than 1 million visitors attended over 300 events held at more than 30 locations. Today, we are launching our Erzurum Palandöken and Trabzon Sümela Culture Route Festivals."

Noting that the Palandöken Culture Route Festival will last 9 days, Minister Ersoy stated that the festival, held at 37 separate locations, will draw the interest of everyone from age 7 to 70.

"It Will Give the People of Erzurum the Opportunity to Watch Cultural and Artistic Events"

Explaining that more than 400 events, ranging from exhibitions to theater, from concerts to children's activities, and from film screenings to discussions, will be held during this period, Ersoy said:

"Just as this festival will be a means of preserving, keeping alive, and passing on to future generations the history, culture, and art of the land of the Dadaş, it will also give my fellow citizens of Erzurum the opportunity to watch and experience various cultural and artistic events. The ability to access both local and national as well as international culture and art events under the same organizational umbrella and with such rich content creates a very important opportunity, especially for our children and young people."

Inviting the people of Erzurum and those living in surrounding provinces to the Palandöken Culture Route Festival, Ersoy stated that he believes the festival will provide very significant gains and benefits to Erzurum in terms of culture, art, and tourism, as it has in other provinces.

Expressing that he expects high participation in the festival, Ersoy said: "Of course, besides including Erzurum in the Culture Route Festivals, which are a Türkiye brand, on this occasion it was also granted to us today to open a very special work here. The culture and history of Erzurum, where the foundations of the National Struggle and of our march toward the future were laid, will now be preserved and exhibited under the elegant, modern, and technological roof of the new Erzurum Museum."

"We Built the Museum With the Approach of a Social Living Space"

Recalling that the Erzurum Museum, whose establishment efforts began in 1944, operated at the Yakutiye Madrasa and the Twin Minaret Madrasa, Ersoy continued as follows:

"The Erzurum Museum acquired its own original building in 1968. As you will appreciate, it was not possible for that building to house and exhibit the wealth of civilization and culture of these ancient lands, whose history of settlement stretches back to 4000 BC. Our new Erzurum Museum, with a closed area of 11,159 square meters, will, God willing, preserve, exhibit, and convey this magnificent heritage to future generations in a manner worthy of its owner, Erzurum, and the people of Erzurum. The size of our museum's exhibition area is a total of 5,100 square meters, comprising 2,350 square meters indoors and 2,750 square meters outdoors. The artifact storage section was built at 2,000 square meters. We took care to use the most advanced technological equipment, along with sound, image, and air-conditioning systems, in exhibiting and preserving the artifacts that embody Erzurum's culture and history. Our museum has precision cooling and dust collection centers, and its heating system can be provided in four different ways. As you tour it, you will see that, with its exhibition halls, artifact storage sections, temporary exhibition areas, education workshop, conference hall, library, laboratory, and cafeteria sections, we built this work of ours, too, with the approach of a social living space."

Ersoy emphasized that, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, producing service rather than words, working with the understanding of being a servant to the nation, and striving to do the very best bring success along with them.

"It Was Deemed Worthy of an Award in the Field of Interior Architectural Design and Application"

Mentioning that the Erzurum Museum was deemed worthy of an international award, Ersoy used the following words: "Our new Erzurum Museum was deemed worthy of an award in the field of 2023 interior architectural design and application in the 'museum buildings' branch of the 'cultural buildings' category by the World Organization of Architects, headquartered in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. We have thus added one more to the international awards won by our museums, with our Erzurum Museum. This pride belongs to you, to our dear nation. May our new Erzurum Museum and your award be auspicious. I extend my individual thanks to the people, institutions, and organizations who contributed to bringing the New Erzurum Museum Project to life. I wish that our museum, like our festival, will duly serve the history, culture, and social life of Erzurum."