Nurettin Alkan / Isparta, Aug 24 () - The excavation team working at ruins of Antioch of Pisidia in western province of Isparta have staged a sit at the ancient site to protest the brutal execution of their colleague, Syrian archaeologist Khalid al-Assad, by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), along with terror attacks in Turkey.

The 82-year-old scholar Khalid al-Assad has been beheaded by the ISIL militants at a local square and his body has been hung on public display, after al-Assad had refused to show the treasures of the city hidden for safe keeping to the militants.

Director of the excavation works, Professor Mehmet Özhanlı and his team from Süleyman Demirel University Archaeology Department made a press statement condemning these terror attacks, within the protest at the ancient site.

“Lately, over the incidents occurring across Turkey and the world, one can’t sit back and watch. Especially the terror attacks of ISIL in Iraq and Syria in the last two years…Our colleague Khalid al-Assad has also been beheaded in the ancient site where he has devoted his 50 years; we condemn his brutal execution where his body was hung on a column. We condemn the massacres against not only our colleague, but also other people killed, and ancient artefacts, accordingly” said the statement.

 

Video Stream

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- Detailed footage of excavation team

- Press statement of Director of excavation works



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