Denouncing the persecution of minorities, attacks on cultural heritage and illicit trafficking in cultural properties in Iraq and Syria as “part of a strategy of deliberate cultural cleansing of exceptional violence,” the head of the United Nations cultural agency today urged the creation of “protected cultural zones” around heritage sites in the two crisis-riven countries.
“It is not too late to take action,” Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said, adding “there can be no purely military solution to this crisis. To fight fanaticism, we also need to reinforce education, a defense against hatred, and protect heritage, which helps forge collective identity.”
Opening an international conference at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters on threats to cultural heritage and diversity in Iraq and Syria, Ms. Bokova suggested a start could be made with the city of Aleppo, and especially the Umayyad Mosque, a highly iconic site located in the World Heritage Syrian city of Aleppo.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Ms. Bokova’s call to place cultural diversity at the heart of humanitarian and peace building efforts in Syria and Iraq was strongly endorsed by the UN, adding that “the protection of cultural heritage is a security imperative.”
3 December 2014