CAVING IN TURKEY

Historically, speleological activities in Turkey has been initiated by one man, Temucin Aygen, with the great help from foreign cavers who has been interested in Turkey’s vast karstic areas. In mid-1960’s, Temucin Aygen, aware of the potential of Turkey, invited cavers to explore the caves of Anatolia. Although Turkish Speleological Society was established in 1964, together with Temucin Aygen, there were only limited Turkish people interested in this strange business.

With increasing expeditions, very important explorations have been accomplished. Dumanlэ-Kembos system (1966), Altinbesik Düdensuyu (1967), Düdencik (1967,Turkish depth record till 1989), Pinargozu resurgence (1970,one of tallest caves in the world & longest cave in Turkey), Tilkiler Düdeni (1976-80) second longest cave in Turkey are some examples of foreign expeditions.With these expeditions and contributions from foreign cavers, slowly but surely raised the interest towards caving in Turkey. Within this sense, we are grateful to foreign cavers. Out of the little group of Temucin Aygen, students formed the first speleological society in Bogazici University in 1973. After various explorations and more than 350 new caves, Turkish depth record has been realised in 1989 in Cukurpinar sinkhole by BUMAK (-1190 m).

Today, there are more than 10 clubs and societies dealing with caves & caving. The number may seem strange and little, especially compared to Europe. But we can easily say that this is just the beginning and building of caving culture in Turkey. At the moment, as of spring 1997, out of first ten deepest caves, eight of them have been discovered by Turkish cavers. Self-sufficiency, creation of culture, communication and better relations among Turkish cavers inevitably fires the question of our relations with foreign cavers. In November 1994, Turkish cavers had their second speleological symposium, held in Ankara. One of the most important part of the symposium was the declaration of "Turkish Cavers Union" by BUMAK and MAD (speleogical association established by Temucin Aygen in 1964).

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