Turkey places great importance on UNESCO: Deputy foreign minister

PARIS

Turkey's reelection to UNESCO’s highest body for another four years will provide "significant motivation" for its future work, the country's deputy foreign minister said Thursday.

"We place great importance on the representation of our cultural values on a global scale," Yavuz Selim Kiran told Anadolu Agency in Paris, where UNESCO is having its General Conference through Nov. 24.

Telling how Turkey was easily elected to UNESCO’s executive board in 2017, following two previous terms, Kiran said on Wednesday that it was reelected for 2021-2025, adding that he saw the support for Turkey in the UNESCO hall with his own eyes.

Also hailing neighboring Azerbaijan's election to the executive board, Kiran said: "It made us all proud.”

Stressing that Turkey is one of the 20 founding members of the international platform, Kiran added: "That's why we place great importance on the work done by UNESCO and pay attention to active participation."

"Turkey has always been one of the most active and leading countries of this organization since the idea of UNESCO first emerged," he said.

Mentioning how Ahmet Altay Cengizer, Turkey's permanent delegate to UNESCO, is successfully fulfilling the duties of the presidency of the UNESCO General Conference, which lasts through Nov. 24, Kiran said he gets "great appreciation and praise" in the corridors of UNESCO today.

Saying that Turkey so far boasts 19 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and 20 entries on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List, Kiran added that this number "should grow."

PARIS

Turkey's reelection to UNESCO’s highest body for another four years will provide "significant motivation" for its future work, the country's deputy foreign minister said Thursday.

Also hailing neighboring Azerbaijan's election to the executive board, Kiran said: "It made us all proud.”

"Turkey has always been one of the most active and leading countries of this organization since the idea of UNESCO first emerged," he said.

Saying that Turkey so far boasts 19 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and 20 entries on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List, Kiran added that this number "should grow."