Abstract—We have been doing archaeological surveys in the west of Turkey for 17 years. Also, in this region we carried out excavations in “Dede Mezarı”, MBA Cemetery for five years. During these studies, it has been found out that the thousands of years old sites were destroyed by illegal digs and agricultural activities. The most important way to prevent these ruins to raise the awareness of the security units and local community. It should be explained that the sites and the works that have come out of here have universal character; they should be protected and the archaeologists, art historians or historians who are expert on their fields can do excavations here. It should be emphasized that when the studies are carried out on a scientific level, the results will make a contribution to the development of the region, as well. Because people should be gathered from the local community in order to carry out these studies and certain amount of money will be paid for them. Moreover, the historical area will be brought in tourism and the works extracted from here will be exhibited in museums. So a long-termed and permanent source bearing no risk has been produced. These informative studies which are for local administrators and local people should be as regular workshops, conferences or field practice. It is crucial that the protection awareness of the archaeological sites should be gained at early ages. Index Terms —Archaeological sites, illegal digs, the preservation of the ancient sites. I. THE DESTRUCTION PROBLEM OF CULTURAL HERITAGE The earliest settlements in Turkey date back to the Prehistoric periods. From the first cave settlements in Turkey on, people have consistently lived for tens of thousands of years round [1]. The geographical location of this country, the asset of water supplies and fertile lands have been effective on Manuscript received August 13, 2018; revised October 13, 2018. This project was supported by Selcuk University the Coordinatorship of Scientific Research Projects and Turkish Historical Society (Türk Tarih Kurumu). We appreciate their valuable contribution: “The Destruction of Cultural Heritage and the Suggestions on Preventing This Destruction: Turkey Model” (18701534 Project number), “Archaeological Surveys in Afyonkarahisar and Vicinity 2017-2018- Afyonkarahisar İli ve İlçeleri 2017 -2018 Yılları Arkeolojik Yüzey Araştırmaları” (17401020 Project number). Özdemir Koçak is with Selcuk University Faculty of Letters, Department of History, Selcuk University Campus 42130 Konya, Turkey (e-mail: okocak@selcuk.edu.tr, ozdekocak@hotmail.com, okocak@selcuk.edu.tr). Nuriye Külahlı is with Selcuk University School of Foreign Languages, Selcuk University Campus 42130 Konya, Turkey (e-mail: nuriyebahce@hotmail.com, nuriye.kulahli@selcuk.edu.tr). this fact. Thus, from past to present many sites (settlement, castle, tumulus, cemetery, temple etc.) have remained in Anatolia. If you walk around in any village or town, it is possible for you to see at least one mound and cemetery or ancient settlement remains nearby. It is regarded as a cultural wealth. Yet, this wealth brings along some responsibilities, as well. These are as follows: 1. Documenting of these culture assets, 2. Informing of the related units, 3. Providing their preservation, 4. Evaluating scientifically, 5. Advertising or bringing into tourism. However, this situation is sometimes difficult as these sites are in substantial amount, they are scattered and many of them are in the regions which are hard to reach. The main problem is probably the damage of these sites that have reached from thousands of years up to now. In Turkey this damage generally happens in two ways: The agricultural activities and illegal excavations [2], [3]. The destruction made in the mounds and cemeteries leads to irrecoverable damages. Also, it becomes impossible to excavate these old sites and the remains here in a good condition. So, the works that may be safely exhibited in the areas where they have been found out and in the museums disappears. Furthermore, some of the archaeological remains gained from the illegal excavations are illicitly taken out of the country. This necessitates the complex legal procedures to take the ruins to their original habitats as they cannot be preserved in their authentic places. II. THE SAMPLES OF DESTRUCTION IN THE INLAND WESTERN ANATOLIA For 17 years on, we have been making surveys in the region called inland western Anatolia region of Turkey (Map 1). During these studies, we have broadly examined around 298 mounds and cemeteries the oldest of which dates back to 6000 B.C. Besides, in the same region, we carried on excavations for 5 years in a Middle Bronze Age (MBA) cemetery [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] (Fig.1). During our researches here, we saw how serious this devastation was and we carried out evaluations on what should be done in order to prevent it. Within the scope of our study area and researches, it is clear that these damages in Turkey are based on some reasons: 1. The agricultural destruction, 2. The destruction of illegal excavation, 3. Getting soil from the sites to use or getting remains such as stone-marble and using them anywhere else. The Destruction of Cultural Heritage and the Suggestions on Preventing This Destruction: Turkey Model Özdemir Kocak and Nuriye Kü lahli International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 8, No. 10, October 2018 261 doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2018.8.10.971