UNESCO to set up center to monitor Syria’s heritage

Damascus, SANA – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has started work to set up a center to observe and assess the situation of cultural heritage in Syria.

The establishment of the center, which will be based at the UNESCO’s office in the Lebanese capital Beirut, came in implementation of a decision made at the international meeting of experts held at the UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris on May 26-28.

Experts from the General Directorate of Archeology and Museums participated in the meeting, which was held under the title of mobilizing the international community to preserve the Syrian cultural heritage.

“The observatory is meant to monitor the state of archeological monuments and pieces and non-material heritage with the aim to combat trafficking,” Director Ma’moun Abdul-Karim was quoted as saying in a statement to SANA.

The center, he added, will help in collecting and exchanging information, including online, on archeological sites which have sustained damage by the armed terrorist groups and on stolen pieces and monuments so as to recover them.

Archeological, historical and religious monuments and sites in various areas in Syria came under attacks by the armed terrorist groups throughout the ongoing war raging in the country. The attacks, along with theft acts, aimed at obliterating Syria’s cultural heritage and destroying its civilization.

H. Said