We Exist Through Nature and Culture...

As a prominent heritage NGO in Turkey, the Foundation for the Protection and Promotion of the Environment and Cultural Heritage (CEKUL) aims to develop a nationwide network dedicated to conserving both urban and rural environments.
Established in 1990, ÇEKÜL Foundation aims to protect Anatolia's natural, historical, and cultural heritage. It is dedicated to fostering a harmonious relationship between nature, culture, and people. Operating under the motto "We Exist Through Nature and Culture," its projects and programs adopt an approach that extends from the smallest settlements to the entire country.

Our work spans multiple scales, from the restoration and renovation of the built environment on a “neighborhood-town-basin-region-country” basis to sustainable rural development, biodiversity conservation, and afforestation. The Foundation collaborates with more than 300 historic localities across Turkey to protect city and town houses and their contents, entire villages, fortresses, marketplaces, public squares, monumental structures, and ancient archaeological sites. Each project includes educational, promotional, and community organizing goals alongside its main objectives.
ÇEKÜL’s founder, Prof. Metin Sözen, said, “Developing the widespread ownership of traditional values and cultural identity, strengthening public guardianship against disintegration... unfolding the supreme nature of human treasures and retaining their originality, utilizing high-standard measures for protecting, restoring, and perpetuating their existence... and transmitting them as a legacy, a vestige to future generations... ”