Team salvaging articles from 1890 Turkish shipwreck off Wakayama Pref.

TANABE, Japan, Jan. 11 Kyodo -
A team of experts on Sunday began a second round of work to salvage articles
from the Ertugrul Firkateyni, a Turkish military ship that sank in a severe
storm off the coast of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, in 1890.
After studying the seafloor in 2007, the team, consisting of 12 people
including a Turkish archeologist and a Spanish oceanic architecture expert as
well as local divers, has been salvaging the wreckage since last year under a
three-year plan.
In its first attempt from January to February last year, the team lifted a
total of 1,171 items from the sunken ship, such as buttons probably from
military uniforms and a telescope lens.
The members hope to find 2,000 more items this round that will run through Feb. 3.
The 76-meter-long Ottoman Turkish wooden ship was wrecked in September 1890
with 650 crew aboard. It was on its way home after delivering a letter from the
sultan and a medal to Emperor Meiji.
Of the crew, 69 were saved by local people. The incident later became a symbol
of friendship between Japan and Turkey.
A commemoration ceremony is being planned in Turkey in 2010 on the 120th
anniversary of the incident. Some of the articles salvaged from the wreckage
are expected to be exhibited at the ceremony.
==Kyodo