A Turkish Visitor's Passion: Ancient Shipwrecks

“
When Oguz Aydemir turned 50, he decided that work would no longer consume his life.
”
In 2001, he sold his shares in a successful packaging company in
Istanbul
,
Turkey
, a business so demanding he sometimes slept in the factory, and moved to a house on 25 acres near
Cesme
on the
Aegean Sea
. There, he has an olive grove, lavender fields and a vineyard, making olive oil and wine that he gives to friends.
But Dr. Aydemir’s real passion is working with organizations that support underwater archaeology and the exploration of Turkey’s incredibly rich offshore treasures.
There are shipwrecks everywhere off the Turkish coastline.
“The shores of Turkey are so rich that within the reach of let’s say 60-70 meters [200-300 feet] you may find three or four shipwrecks from every century starting from the 16th century B.C. until today,” Dr. Aydemir told
GlobalAtlanta
during a recent visit to
Atlanta
. “The richness comes from the variety of shipwrecks. We’re talking about 3,600 years from the oldest until today.”
In 1999, Dr. Aydemir joined with a group of Turkish businessmen to start the
Turkish Foundation for Underwater Archaeology
which raises money for exploration. He is also on the board of directors of the
Institute of Nautical Archaeology
at
Texas A&M University
, which has a research center in
Bodrum
, Turkey.
Robert Ballard
, who led the team that discovered the Titanic wreckage in 1985, is also an institute board member.
Dr. Aydemir has strong Atlanta connections. His daughter lives here and his son is an
Emory University
graduate. Dr. Aydemir is also on the board of the
American-Turkish Friendship
Council
which was founded in 2005 by
Mona Diamond
, Turkey’s honorary consul general in
Georgia
. The non-profit organization is working to build a breast cancer clinic in Turkey.
Dr. Aydemir, who is working on the clinic project, would also like to bring an exhibit to Atlanta from the world’s oldest discovered shipwreck, the Uluburn, a vessel that sank in 1300 B.C. off the coast of
Kas
, Turkey. Artifacts recovered included gold cups, ceramics and ivory.
“It was a trading ship in the Mediterranean, stopping over in
Egypt
,
Cyprus
,
Lebanon
and most likely northern
Greece
,” said Dr.
Aydemir.
The
Metropolitan Museum of Art
in
New York
last year hosted an exhibit of artifacts from the wreckage. Dr. Aydemir made arrangements to have the exhibit brought to Emory University’s
Michael C. Carlos
Museum
after it left the Metropolitan. However, the Carlos Museum was hosting the King Tut exhibit at the
Atlanta Civic Center
and could not take on another show at the time. The artifacts are now back at the
Museum of Underwater Archaeology
in Bodrum.
“I hope we can bring it or some other interesting exhibits for another occasion somehow to Atlanta,” said Dr. Aydemir.
He would also like to see direct flights between Atlanta and Turkey. Dr. Aydemir believes a direct Atlanta-Istanbul flight would attract more passengers than
Delta Air Lines Inc
.’s flight between Atlanta and
Athens
, Greece.
“The Greek population is about 13 million,” he said. “Istanbul alone is 15 million. I think it would be the best idea to be able to have these flights as soon as possible.”
Dr. Aydemir, who holds a doctorate degree in European integration, also thinks Turkey should be a full member of the
European Union
. “Turkey belongs to Europe,” he said. “It has always been the policy of the Turks to be part of the
Western
world.”
Turkey, with its youthful work force, would help the European Union’s economy, said Dr. Aydemir.
“Europe is getting old,” he said. “Turkey is very young. It’s very energetic. It’s very promising.”