Speleologists work on Akseki sinkhole documentary project

A team of speleologists from the Anatolian Speleology Group (ASPEG) is working on a documentary about the Bucakalan and Kayaağıl sinkholes in Antalya's Akseki district.

ASPEG President Ender Usuloğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they have been shooting the documentary with a team of 15 in Akseki's Bucakalan and Kayaağıl sinkholes.

Claiming that they were the first Turkish team to descend into the 345-meter-deep sinkhole near the Bucakalan Quarter back in 2011, Usuloğlu said, "After a 40-meter descent into the Bucakalan sinkhole with a rope, the longest one-way descent in Turkey, you come across a balcony that is followed by a 305-meter steep landing that takes about two to two-and-a-half hours to complete.

Usluoğlu said that they have also shot some scenes in the Kayaağıl sinkhole, which is about 400 meters wide and 100 meters deep, near Dikmen Quarter.

"We want to introduce these unique sinkholes to all of Turkey and the whole world. Hopefully this will work as a great promotion for Akseki and our country."

He said that they would begin a new exploration project in the Giden Gelmez Mountains with the support of the Akseki Educational Foundation and other institutions this October. As part of the project, they will search for new sinkholes and caves in the mountain.

"Giden Gelmez has quite difficult geographic features, but we are expecting to make some nice discoveries there," Usluoğlu said.

Adding that there have been many expeditions in the Akseki caves by local and foreign teams since 1966, Usluoğlu said that the projects that were started by Turkey's first cave researcher, Temuçin Aygen, continued with British, French, Czech and Spanish researchers.

"However, no inventory or book projects have so far been conducted on all of the Akseki caves. And there are many caves that have not been discovered yet. We will use all available facilities and try to contribute to the development of alternative tourism in Turkey."