Involvement of Military Brownfields for Tourism: The Case of Ukraine and Turkey

In recent years, the reuse and restoration of brownfield sites and their contribution to the economy of the region/country have become topical issues. Especially former industrial and war sites are among the most important representatives of brownfields. Especially old battlefields remain idle and abandoned to their fate. Renovating these old battlefields and bringing them into tourism is valuable in terms of reusing brownfields. This reconstruction contributes to the economy of the region and the country and is also important in terms of environmental sustainability. The aim of this study is to create a detailed land use map using Geographic Information Systems in the process of changing brownfields in Turkey and Ukraine into historical national parks, to introduce the use of historical national parks and to contribute to the process of protecting and managing historical heritage. For this purpose, potential former battlefields were identified and their potential for tourism was evaluated. As a result, Turkey has declared 3 important old battlefield regions as national parks in the past and brought them to tourism. In this context, Ukraine not only has brought certain regions to tourism, but also has potential regions to be brought to tourism.