A mysterious metal plaque that appeared in southeastern Turkey last week, then quietly disappeared, turned out to be a government publicity stunt to promote Turkey’s new space program.
The monolith, which was about 3 meters high, was discovered in a rural area in the province of Sanliurfa on Friday and disappeared without explanation four days later. It was inscribed with a message encrypted in the Gokturk alphabet, an ancient Turkish language: “Look at the sky, see the moon.”
During a televised speech on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced an ambitious new space program for the country, including missions to the moon. An image of the monolith was projected behind it.
Turkey’s 10-year space vision, said Erdogan, was driven by a “famous slogan”.
“I announce to the whole world and say, ‘Look at the sky, see the moon,'” he said.
Mustafa Varank, Turkey’s minister of industry and technology, told the state-run Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that the idea of planting the monolith came from his ministry colleagues. The inspiration, he said, came from a period in late 2020, when a mysterious monolith appeared in the Utah desert, followed by others from California to Romania.
“My young colleagues who closely follow current developments have made this suggestion,” said Varank. “They said, ‘These monoliths are popping up all over the world. How about we do such a thing, inscribe that message on it and do it in the Gokturk language, add to the mystery a little more? ‘”
Unlike some of its predecessors, Turkey’s monolith was protected by armed guards, including members of the military police. Varank said his colleagues erected the monolith in the middle of the night. Local leaders were aware of the plan, he said, and its placement near Gobekli Tepe, a UNESCO-protected archaeological dig site, was intentional. (The site is the setting for the Turkish Netflix series “The Gift”.)
The monolith quickly became an object of intense curiosity, attracting visitors from hundreds of kilometers away.
Fuat Demirdil, the owner of the camp where the monolith was found, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that he was unsure of his purpose.
“We don’t know whether the metal block was placed in my area for publicity or advertising,” he said.
The confusion helped to spark interest and publicity, as government officials intended.
“It was a good mood,” said Varank.