International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) that undertakes an advisory mission against UNESCO World Heritage Centre organized the “2016 General Assembly and Advisory Committee Meetings and Scientific Symposium” on October 15- 21 in Istanbul. The event which was held in Turkey for the first time was hosted by ICOMOS Turkish National Committee.
Among participants of the program were Minister of Tourism and Culture Mr. Nabi Avcı, Istanbul Deputy Governor Mr. İsmail Gültekin, Deputy General Director of Cultural Heritage and Museums Mr. Mustafa Bozdemir, Acting President of Council of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mr. Ahmet Selamet, ICOMOS President Mr. Gustavo Araoz and ICOMOS members all around the world, along with Director Kazım Gökhan Elgin and officers from IPCU that performed activities for protection of cultural heritage in Istanbul.
According to the latest statistical figures of this year as disclosed by the United Nations in the scientific symposium with theme: “Post Disaster Reconstruction”, for the first time in the world since the 2nd World War, a very huge population, reaching up to 50 million people in the beginning of the year, was forced to migrate due to disasters. It was stated that many of those people were from historical places so the results of the symposium would not only have great affects on the historical environments but also on the people who were affected from such disasters. Moreover, attention was drawn to the importance and necessity of the “Guide for Management of Earthquake Risks for Historical Structures” in Turkey.
Having 9500 members, 300 institutional members, 106 national committees, and 28 international scientific committees, ICOMOS was founded to develop principles, techniques and policies and support any researches for protection and evaluation of Historical Monuments and Sites, and ICOMOS is the advisory mission of UNESCO in the field of world heritage.