New Turkish sites on UNESCO list

Ten new cultural and natural Turkish heritage sites have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik said they were informed about the situation on April 23, adding, “Van’s Akdamar Church, Istanbul’s Yıldız Palace, Antalya’s ancient city of Aspendos, the Dağlık Phrygia region in Kütahya-Eskişehir-Afyon, Edirne’s Uzun Köprü, Siirt’s İsmail Fakirullah shrine, Muğla’s ancient city of Stratonikeia, Bolu’s Mudurnu Ahi City, Amasya’s Harşena Mount and Pontus King and Rock Tombs and Kahramanmaraş’s Eshab-ı Kehf social complex are among these places. The number of our heritage sites on the UNESCO list increased to 62. Every year, we can submit two sites to the UNESCO Tentative List; one is a natural site and the other is a cultural site. From now on, we will start working to determine the ones among these sites to be submitted to the permanent list.”

A special message

The minister said the inclusion of the Akdamar Church in the UNESCO list this year should become a kind of special message to foreign parliamentarians, who were influenced by the campaign of the Armenian diaspora.

“They use some painful events in our history as a political tool. It made me very happy that 10 new places were included in the tentative list but Akdamar’s inclusion made me happier,” Çelik said.

Source: Huriyet Daily News