Turkey has opened an Aerial Surveillance and Security Centre beside the ancient city of Sardis, capital of the Lydian kingdom traditionally credited with inventing coins. Sardis and the royal necropolis of Bin Tepe, with more than 120 burial mounds across some 75 km², were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2025.
The centre has two long-range night-vision drones, antennas, monitoring stations and security cameras, run by staff with certified training. When they detect suspicious activity, especially in hard-to-reach areas, alerts go straight to the Gendarmerie.
The aim is to protect the mounds, some of which have already been damaged by illegal excavation. The pilot project could be extended to other archaeological sites in the country, which has recovered more than 13,000 illegally removed cultural objects since 2002.
