UNESCO Calls to Protect Cultural Sites in Iraq and Syria
WORLD BULLETIN
IRAQ---Ahead of her first visit to Turkey on Monday, Irina Bokova, the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, has stressed the importance of protecting culture heritage in Syria and Iraq. Bokova said that, during her two-day visit, which coincides with UNESCO’s 70th anniversary, she would discuss with Turkish leaders the means to protect and stop the destruction of historical heritage in the war-torn countries of Syria and Iraq, "What's happening in Syria and Iraq is a huge tragedy,” Bokova said. “We cannot dissociate the humanitarian disaster from the destruction of culture heritage in countries that I consider to be the citadel of the human civilization.”[link]
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| Syria and Iraq have suffered widespread looting and damage of their historic Islamic art, architecture and cultural heritage sites during years of ongoing conflicts. |
