Nearly 2,000 artifacts have been uncovered since 2020 at the historic site of Malazgirt in eastern Türkiye, where the state and its university partners are turning a battlefield into a managed heritage project with tourism ambitions attached. Officials say the work is meant to identify the site of the 955th anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert, but the machinery behind it is the familiar one: ministries, museums, universities and permits, all arranging the past under institutional supervision.
The State Owns the Past
The discoveries come from the "Malazgirt Battlefield Identification, Historical and Archaeological Survey Project," carried out with support from the Culture and Tourism Ministry's General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums in partnership with Muş Alparslan University. A multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians and historians has been working in Afşin, about 7.5 kilometers from Malazgirt, at a site believed to be a Seljuk martyr cemetery. Muş Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Şengül said the battlefield survey, launched in 2020, together with the Historic City of Malazgirt Excavation Project that began in 2025, has yielded around 2,000 archaeological finds.
The language is all about science, preservation and public awareness. The structure is all about authority. The battlefield survey is led scientifically by professor Adnan Çevik of the History Department at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University under the supervision of the Ahlat Museum Directorate. Excavations inside Malazgirt Castle are being directed by Dr. Ahmet Oğuzhan Karaçetin of Muş Alparslan University with the permission and support of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. The site, the narrative and the archive all sit inside the same administrative frame.
Coins, Weapons, and a Managed Memory
Among the finds are Roman- and Byzantine-era coins, numerous arrowheads and spearheads, and other military-related metal objects uncovered during surface surveys. Excavations have also revealed a previously unknown structure within the castle's Inner Fortress, while graves at the historic Muslim cemetery known as the Arab Cemetery have been scientifically documented and recorded. During the 2025 excavation season, archaeologists uncovered a previously unknown room near the entrance of the Inner Fortress. At the nearby Arab Cemetery, seven graves were excavated and documented using scientific methods.
Researchers have carried out extensive surveys across a broad area, including the town center of Malazgirt and the surrounding localities of Harabesor, Örenşar, Kanlıdere, Aydınlık, Afşin, Ziyarettepe, Aytaç Plain, Gezo Plain and Çivi Plain. The project’s stated goal is to determine the exact location of the 1071 battle using scientific methods, uncover its archaeological traces and better understand the historical development of the surrounding area. In other words, the past gets mapped, catalogued and folded into a state-approved story about heritage.
Şengül said the projects are crucial both for identifying the battlefield where the Battle of Malazgirt was fought and for uncovering the historic urban fabric of the medieval settlement. He said the findings from both the Inner Fortress and the cemetery are helping researchers better understand Malazgirt during the medieval period. The nearly 2,000 artifacts recovered so far are being preserved at a newly constructed excavation house, which is nearing completion.
Tourism, Museums, and the Official Story
Officials plan to eventually display the finds both in Malazgirt and at the Muş Archaeology Museum. Şengül said the work extends beyond archaeological excavation and forms part of broader efforts to strengthen Malazgirt's role as a destination for history, culture and tourism. That’s the other half of the operation: heritage as development, memory as a visitor economy, and a battlefield turned into an institutional asset.
"Our main objective is to investigate the historical heritage extending from the 1071 Victory of Malazgirt to the present through scientific methods, pass these findings on to future generations and strengthen public awareness of history," he said. "We will continue expanding our research and share the results with both the academic community and the public."
Çevik also provided technical information about the ongoing archaeological investigations at the site. The details are still coming out of the ground. The institutions are already lining up the display cases.