Altınköy has now officially become a "museum". In 2015, Altındağ Mayor Dr. Altınköy, Turkey's first and only open-air village museum, which was realized with the initiatives of Veysel Tiryaki, was granted "museum" status by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Mayor Tiryaki announced the good news at the program held at Altınköy Open Air Museum. Ankara Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Erhan Karakaya, UNESCO Türkiye National Commission President Prof. attended the program held in Altınköy Open Air Museum square. Dr. Öcal Oğuz, MHP Altındağ District Chairman Emin Sıtkı Aktaş, directors of many important museums in Ankara, deputy mayors, unit managers and many citizens attended.
“THIS IS A PRECIOUS SPACE…”
Speaking at the program, Ankara Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Erhan Karakaya said, "This is a valuable area, a valuable geography... I would like to thank our esteemed colleagues, especially our President Veysel Tiryaki, for their efforts in turning this place into a museum and making it available to our citizens and all Ankara residents. We are working diligently to introduce our intangible cultural heritage, increase its awareness and pass it on to future generations."
“A LOT OF EFFORT HAS BEEN PAID FOR ALTINKÖY”
Talking about the construction and formation stages of Altınköy, Altındağ Mayor Dr. Veysel Tiryaki said, "A lot of effort was put into Altınköy. Everything you see here was moved one by one. But the heart wanted this place to be registered and protected as a museum. Because the buildings in this area are 150 years old, they need to be protected. Thank God, the registration process has been completed. It has been officially registered that Altınköy is an open-air museum. I would like to thank our Ministry of Culture and its officials."  
President Tiryaki continued his words as follows:
"We worked hard to create a village museum that can serve not only Ankara but also Turkey. Altınköy is an area of 1500 acres... We want to expand the area even further as a sustainable village museum. Children from the farthest districts of Ankara come to this museum. This place was built especially for children. This year, we will spend both material and moral effort on Altınköy, we will enrich it. We will do activities on the weekends. We will turn it into a museum with different activities almost every week. We will focus on history. Today, we held a symbolic ceremony to leave a note. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this place and who will protect it from now on. I promise that we will enrich the Altınköy Open Air Museum every day.
“PRESIDENT TİYYAKİ HAS REALIZED THE DREAM OF 3 GENERATIONS”
UNESCO Turkish National Commission President Prof. Dr. Öcal Oğuz also drew attention to the importance of transferring cultural heritage from generation to generation and said, "If we do not teach it to our children and if our children do not pass it on to their children, that cultural heritage does not last. And the cultural heritage that does not last does not constitute our identity and belonging."
Pointing out that Mayor Veysel Tiryaki realized the dream of three generations, Oğuz said, "Establishing an open-air museum requires cultural sensitivity. The President has achieved what we could not achieve. I personally congratulate them. I think it is a very important service. If we do not transfer the cultural heritage from generation to generation, it will not survive. The cultural heritage that does not last does not constitute our identity and belonging. I think that this museum, as Turkey's first and only open-air museum, is a place that we must protect like the apple of our eye. I think the sustainability of this place and "We will do whatever we can to make it live. You and the society should also show this sensitivity... Establishing a park and a garden is easy, but establishing an open-air museum is not as easy as it seems... It requires a very difficult process that requires training and patience. In this respect, I would like to thank our President for completing the process successfully."
In the program where the municipality's folklore team performed, the participants also visited the traditional handicraft businesses in the open-air museum.