In 2004, significant changes were made to the 1983 Law on the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Properties (no 2863), the principal law pertaining to all heritage sites in Turkey. Among these changes was the inclusion of the novel (for Turkey) concept of site management. The aims, scope, administrative and legal grounds associated with site management were proposed in a 2005 Regulation (Regulation on the Substance and Procedures of the Establishment and Duties of Site Management and Monument Council, and the Identification of Management Sites 2005; hereafter, referred to as the Regulation for Site Management). Specifically, this 2005 Regulation seeks to ensure that certain archaeological sites and conservation areas, delineated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as ‘management sites’, are safeguarded within the scope of a sustainable management plan in coordination with government institutions, NGOs, local authorities and communities, and other volunteering groups (Regulation for Site Management 2005, Chapter One, Article 1). The accompanying objectives for site management were set, in Article 5, as follows:

1. •Ensuring accurate delineation of management sites and of their interaction areas and junction points

2. •Demonstrating ways, through management plans, of finding a balance between protection, access, sustainable economic development and the interests of local communities

3. •Developing strategies, methods, tools and resources to raise the value of heritage sites to an international level

4. •Setting up an international cooperation network to develop cultural tourism

5. •Drafting plans to develop cultural systems in regions comprising conservation areas, which can be associated with each other

6. […]