n accordance with a decision made by the faculty administration, the first event in the series titled “Faculty Conferences,” launched during the spring semester of the 2025-2026 academic year, was held on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The program, jointly organized by our Dean’s Office and the Department of History, featured Prof. Dr. Anıl Yılmaz, a faculty member of the Department of Turkish-Islamic Archaeology at the Faculty of Social and Humanities Sciences, İzmir Katip Çelebi University. The conference, titled “The Lost City of the Turks: Togu Balik (In Light of Recent Archaeological Studies in Mongolia),” was attended by faculty administration, academics, and students. Highlighting the importance of archaeological studies in understanding Turkish history and culture, Prof. Dr. Yılmaz noted that the Togu Balık excavation—supported by TIKA and ongoing for two years—has yielded significant findings regarding the urban planning concepts of the ancient Turks, and that concrete evidence of the Turks’ mining activities and architectural heritage in the region has been uncovered. He also stated that the information would become even more concrete with the excavation scheduled for the summer of 2026. Following the Q&A session with the students, our Dean, Prof. Dr. Oktay Berber, thanked Prof. Dr. Anıl Yılmaz and presented him with a certificate.
