It has been more than 250 days since an elite police unit accompanied workers to a small house in the southern town of Tarsus and began a mysterious excavation.No official statement has been made on the purpose of the excavation since, baffling locals who are trying to catch a glimpse of the work going on behind the enclosed courtyard of a house that has been off-limits to the public since the dig started in November 2016. Questioned by opposition lawmakers, government officials simply said the work is for "a technical excavation," fueling rumors that an ancient underground city full of treasure has been discovered under the house.Local authorities are as tight-lipped as those in Ankara while initial media reports stated that the excavation was tied to the investigation of a gang of illegal treasure seekers accused of murdering an undercover police officer. Locals are also concerned about a road that runs adjacent to the vacant house. İsmet Altunkanat, the headman for the neighborhood where the house is located, told the Doğan News Agency that the authorities never told them anything about the purpose of the excavation."People are worried that their homes could be damaged. We want the authorities to evacuate the neighborhood and then continue with the excavation," he said.