Thursday, July 18, 2013
H.E. Gürcan Balik, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Turkey to UNESCO, and Kishore Rao, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, on 17 July signed a Plan of Operations for a $1.2 million project to safeguard the Turkish World Heritage site of Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia. H. E. Mr Isao Kiso, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Japan was also present on the occasion.
The three-year international cooperation project—Safeguarding the Rock-hewn Churches of Cappadocia, Turkey: Conservation of Rock Structures and Wall Paintings—is generously funded by Japan’s Funds-in-Trust for the Preservation of World Cultural Heritage and has been designed in close cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.The project follows on an international expert mission to the World Heritage area in Cappadocia in 2010.