Minelab Owner on Metal Detecting in Turkey

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I mentioned earlier Peter Tompa's postulated future metal detecting escapades in the "unregulated" eastern Mediterranean. I also discussed the story of the theft of three hundred "site wrecker" depth advantage Minelab detectors which will most likely not be reaching metal detectorists in Turkey just yet. In connection with these two stories, a reader passed along to me a link to a metal detecting forum thread which reveals the realities of metal detecting in this region. One Minelab owner (looks from his shirt and haircut in his avatar photo to be a Star Trek fan) Yalniz Guvercin (may not be his real name) writes07-11-2011, 09:28 PM about:

What I found with Minelab explorer XS (from Turkey):
gold rings that I found on the beach,
silver rings. coins (garrett ace 250 and minelab explorer xs)
I found 250 to ace the gold rings
What I found was not limited to these alone. could not take many photo ... immediately because it usually jeweler selling gold
My English is less than for doing translations Transat google .. I apologize in advance for incorrect translations. (garrett ace 250)

Among the usual congratulatory chitchat, one "Bonesquat" ("Elite Member") observes:

Great stuff you found! You must not have any competition. Nice.

Yalniz adds:

very old history of Turkey. detector to search the ban on turkey. we are doing in secret and at night, call ...

Hmmm. Asked what happens if he gets caught, Yalniz tells fellow detectorists:

imprisonment. at least 48 days. and the detector will be confiscated. We would like to treasure the ban from future

On hearing that, one of the responsible law abiding detectorist - apparently a US citizen from Hawaii - comments:

Arrrrrrrrrrrrg, your a [pirate icon] Don't get caught man! Best of luck to you!

There's "responsible detecting" for you. It's illegal, don't get caught (going out at night), best of luck and welcome to our forum. After a little more halting explanation from the Turk, the Hawaiian adds to his previous comment:

I think I understand. You are able to say if asked you found your items on the beach. I look forward to seeing more of your finds in the future! If you stop posting here I will assume you are in prison.

Once again, no "responsible detectorist" on the metal detecting friendly forum reacted to the notion of "laundering" provenances to circumvent the law. Another "responsible" US detectorist, this one from Claremont, CA reveals the mindset of the milieu:

Too bad about the ban. I would love to be able to detect the grounds around Aya Sofya, or the Topkapı Sarayı. What treasures must be waiting there!

Yes, indeed they are World Heritage Sites precisely to stop greedy oiks going over them with their metal detectors and spades hoiking it all out for their own personal entertainment and profit.