Geckos: Antique Cities' Enemy Number One

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 3 September 2017)


Conspiracy theorists hard at work to spin this one.

The 15-person restoration team working at the 2,700 year-old
Parion Antique City excavation 30 kilometers from Biga district
of Çanakkale province, has begun preventative pointing and
curbing measures to counter the geckos that harm the historical
tissue of the city.

In the scope of the restoration work underway in the 'Odeion'
section, the team is working to cope with the damage that results
when the geckos and certain insects eat the seeds of the fig trees
at the top of the section.  The creatures then leave the resulting
feces between the rocks and marble where, consequently, buds
sprout between the historic masonry producing damage.

To forestall the damage the team has spread lime, sand and pieces
of clay in the area, along with implementing the pointing and
curbing efforts.  Parion excavation chief Zafer Karahan explained
that "the cracks (the geckos cause) are irreversible so were closing
off all areas to the geckos and insects, stopping the buds from
sprouting.  Our greatest enemy is the gecko (!).  A gecko can
destroy an antique city."


                       Fethullah Gecko