DEAR DR. MANITSAS ,

GOING THROUGH THE WEB SITES OF INTERNET WHILE SEEKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE ANCIENT CITY OF KYZIKOS(MARMARA REGION-TURKEY) I CAME ACCROSS WITH THE "PERAMOS HOME PAGE "

FIRSTLY YOU DESERVE ALL THE CREDIT FOR GOING THROUGH ALL THOSE PAINSTAKING EFFORTS TO FIND THE ROOTS OF YOUR FAMILY TREE ALSO EXPLORING THE HISTORY OF THE REGION THAT HAS STRONG LINKS WITH YOUR GREAT GRANDFATHER ERA AND MAYBE EVEN EARLIER IF MORE SOURCES ARE DUG INTO.

MY INTEREST ON THE HISTORY OF KYZIKOS AND ITS SURROUNDING SETTLEMENTS COMES FROM MY FATHER AND HIS PERSONAL WORK ON THE MATTER . MY FATHER NAMELY REŞİT ERTÜZÜN WAS THE MAYOR OF ERDEK (ARTAKİ) DURİNG 1945--1948. MY SISTER WAS BORN IN ERDEK AS WELL.

THE REGION'S NEGLEGTED ARCHEOLOGICAL STATUS AND THE EXISTENCE OF POTENTIAL HISTORY DATED BACK TO 1000 B.C. AND EVEN TO PREHISTORIC TIMES HAVE ALERTED MY FATHER WAY BACK IN 1946 AND HE INITIATED HIS STUDIES WITH HIS OWN PERSONAL DECISION. HE STARTED LICENSED ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS IN A NUMBER OF LOCATIONS IN AND AROUND ERDEK. ALSO WITH THE MOST VALUABLE SUPPORT OF MR. TEOFAN THEOFANIDIS (A TURKISH CITIZEN WITH GREEK ORIGIN) FROM ISTANBUL HE HAS COMPLETED A 4 YEARS STUDY AND PUBLISHED A BOOK CALLED " KAPIDAGI YARIMADASI VE ÇEVRESİNDEKİ ADALAR --KAPIDAG PENUNSILA AND THE SURROUNDING ISLANDS " .THIS BOOK IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE AND DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE REGION THAT I HAVE EVER CAME ACCROSS WITH .THERE ARE TWO MORE PUBLICATIONS ON THE REGION ALSO WRITTEN BY MY FATHER, "ARGAUNOTS " AND "ARTAKI -- ITS PAST AND TODAY". HIS EFFORTS ALSO INCLUDED AN OPEN AIR MUSEUM (FIRST OF HIS KIND) ON HIS FINDINGS AT VARIOUS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES. THIS MUSEUM DOES NOT EXIST NOW AND ALL OF THE ARCHEOLOGICAL PIECES ARE STORED INDOORS AT A WAREHOUSE IN ERDEK. THE DECISION WAS TAKEN BY MY FATHER TO MOVE THESE MOST VALUABLE PIECES TO A SECURE LOCATION SINCE THE MUSEUM WAS NOT PROPERLY LOOKED AFTER TO SAY THE LEAST. THE MAYOR RUNNING THE OFFICE THEN THEN AGREED WITH MY FATHER'S PROPOSAL AND ALSO WITH THE PERMISSION OF " BALIKESIR " MUSEUM AUTHORITIES (ERDEK IS WITHIN THE PROVINCE OF CITY OF BALIKESIR ) THE PIECES WERE TAKEN TO PROTECTION. UNFORTUNATELY THEY CAN NOT BE VIEWED BY PUBLIC UNDER THE CIRCUMTANCES.

I MYSELF VISIT ERDEK SINCE THE YEAR 1960. CURRENTLY MY FATHER STILL LIVES THERE AT THE AGE OF 81 CONTINIUING HIS WORK. IT WAS HIS OWN CHOICE TO LIVE THERE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE BACK IN 1977 AND LEFT ANKARA FOR GOOD. HE HAS DURING RECENT YEARS SUPPORTED EXCAVATION AT CONSULTANCY LEVEL AT THE TEMPLE OF HADRIANUS. HE HAS HOSTED MR. TIM SEVERIN' S GROUP FROM ENGLAND IN 1984 DURING THEIR ANIMATION OF " JASON'S QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN FLEECE " EVENT. MR. SEVERIN WAS HEADING A BBC TEAM AND RECEVIED VALUABLE INFORMATION AND SUPPORT FROM MY FATHER ON THIS LEGENDARY STORY. THEY WERE TAKEN TO THE ACTUAL LOCATIONS REFERRED TO IN THE LEGEND.

MY OBJECTIVE OF CONTACTING YOU IS THAT MAYBE YOU WOULD WISH TO REACH THE INFORMATION IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED PUBLICATIONS WHICH I COULD NOT SEE ON THE "WHAT'S NEW" SECTIN OF YOUR WEB PAGES. I WILL ONLY BE PLEASED IF SUCH INFORMATION CAN PUT A BIT MORE LIGHT INTO YOUR QUEST FOR THE CIVILATIONS THAT INHABITED THE REGION INCLUDING PERAMOS. NEEDLESS TO MENTION THAT THE PUBLICATIONS ARE IN TURKISH LANGUAGE.

YOU MAY CONTACT ME VIA THE BELOW PHONE NUMBERS

BEST REGARDS,

MEHMET ERTÜZÜN