The UNESCO National Commission (UTMK) members led by Commission Chairman Prof. Dr. Öcal Oğuz visited Minister of National Education Nabi Avcı and presented him the findings of the consultation meeting. 

The meeting held at the National Commission building in Ankara took up the destruction of the cultural treasures in the armed conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia and Mali in recent years.

While airing the importance attached to the protection of the cultural heritage in Turkey the meeting underlined the fact that  the UNESCO World Heritage Areas as well as the cultural treasures that exist in any part of the world, museums and libraries, all handwritten manuscripts and works of art that are registered with the UNESCO World Data Base or those that aren’t registered are all the common heritages of humanity.

The meeting evaluated the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and at various UNESCO platforms in view of the cultural heritages destroyed or harmed during armed conflicts and terrorist attacks. The meeting emphasized the importance of the UNESCO cultural treaties signed in 1970, 1972 and 2003 which Turkey is a party to and stressed the destruction of the cultural heritages should be kept on the agenda constantly in the eyes of the international community through the press and through declarations.

The destruction of cultural treasures, illegal trading of cultural artifacts and the negative impact of these on dialogue between cultures were also discussed at the meeting. The speakers drew attention to the fact that among the art treasures that have been harmed are the UNESCO World Heritage areas and Turkish-Ottoman treasures. Participants lauded Turkey’s contributions to UNESCO’s efforts to create awareness on the issue, its coordination, exchange of information, and education efforts. The participants stressed that as a member of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and the Struggle Against Illegal Trading of UNESCO Cultural Wealth Turkey is taking new measures according to advices by UNESCO.

The participants stressed that cultural sensitivity should be enhanced through education in view of the destruction of educational facilities in the conflict zones and thus the destruction of cultural wealth.

Decisions taken after the consultations:

Here are the points that emerged after consultations between Minister Avcı and the UNESCO

National Commission for Turkey:

Articles and interviews are needed to share with the international community Turkey’s work in this area,  

Customs officials should be trained to be able to differentiate between authentic printed manuscripts,

Training teachers by the Ministry of National Education to create awareness and provide information to teachers and schools in view of their influence in the social network to protect cultural heritage in times of crisis, 

Work to create awareness for the protection of solid cultural artifacts and artifacts that are suspected of being a part of the cultural heritage at refugee camps and school curriculums,

Training young people for postgraduate and PHD on restoration of harmed cultural treasures,

Creating locations where refugees can live their traditions, rituals, children’s games and cultural activities.

The meeting held under the coordination of UTMK Chairman Prof. Dr. Öcal Oğuz ve UTMK Acting Chairman Ambassador Gürcan Türkoğlu also hosted officials from specialized committees, Foreign Ministry officials, members of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Directorate of Museums, the Directorate of Libraries and Publications, Association of Librarians, Institute of Cultural Heritage, ICOMOS Turkey and ICOM Turkey.