The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Cultural Assets and Museums General Directorate nominated two state-run museums and four private museums for the award, to be announced during next year's European Museum Forum (EMF) convention to be held in the Finnish city of Tampere, the Anatolia news agency reported.The Sinop Archaeology Museum in the coastal Black Sea city of Sinop, whose vast collection includes more than 10,000 artifacts, and the Çorum Museum in Central Anatolia, which is home to relics uncovered in the Neolithic sites of Alacahöyük and Boğazköy, are the two ministry-run museums nominated for the EMYA prize, handed out since 1977, Anatolia said.
The four private museums rounding out the list -- all located in İstanbul -- are the İş Bankası Museum, which opened in 2007 in the Karaköy quarter; the İstanbul Toy Museum, founded by poet-author Sunay Akın in an old mansion in the Göztepe neighborhood on the Asian side of the city; the Santralİstanbul energy museum and contemporary art space, founded in 2007 at İstanbul's oldest power plant in Silahtarağa; and the Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club (BJK) Museum, Turkey's first private sports museum, located inside the İnönü Stadium in Dolmabahçe.
The EMYA, which recognizes newly built or restored museums across Europe, is aimed at raising the standard of museums throughout the continent. The EMF also awards the Council of Europe Prize, determined by the Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Culture, Science and Education, and the Micheletti Prize, which recognizes the best museum in the science and technology category.
Orhan Düzgün, cultural assets and museums general director of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said the EMF has to date awarded nine Turkish museums with various prizes, including the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, the Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum, the İstanbul Modern and the Bursa City Museum. “The fact that nine Turkish museums have received awards is proof of Turkey's success in museum management,” he said.
