Underwater cultural heritage conference to be held in Istanbul

From Hürriyet Daily News

A press conference will be held Friday to provide information on an upcoming regional meeting designed to help protect underwater cultural heritage in the Mediterranean and Arab region.

The 1st Regional Meeting on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, which will be held October 25-27 at the Istanbul Archeology Museum, is organized by UNESCO and with support from Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency.

The meeting will be the first regional meeting to be organized anywhere in the world to promote the convention and its scientific protection standards among UNESCO member states.

The meeting aims to promote the convention and its scientific protection standards among UNESCO member states. It also aspires to inform country representatives and cultural decision-makers and will provide a forum for the exchange of national experiences.

Initiated in 2001 with the signatures of nine countries, the “UNESCO Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention” now sets the basics for the protection of underwater cultural heritage in coastal and high seas with signatures from more than 40 countries.

The meeting will draw specialists from England, Australia and the Netherlands in addition to representatives from Mediterranean, Black Sea and Arab countries.

The meeting will introduce UNESCO efforts at the protection of underwater cultural heritage; country representatives will present the current status of the legal and practical protection of underwater cultural heritage as well as the situation of underwater archaeology in their countries.

The press conference that will be held in Alayköşkü building in Gülhane Park will be hosted by Professor Ahmet Emre Bilgili, the Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism, Dr. Ulrike Guerin from the UNESCO Section of Museums and Cultural Objects, as well as Hakan Öniz from the Underwater Photography and Video Center of Eastern Mediterranean University.