Cumalikizik in the Turkish province of Bursa, known as the birthplace of the Ottoman Empire, and the cultural landscape of Pergamon in the Izmir province are among the spectacular sites awarded Unesco World Heritage status at the recent 38th World Heritage Committee meeting, held at Qatar’s National Congress Centre in Doha.
“This is truly an honour for us,” said Mustafa Ozdemir, cultural and information attaché, Cultural & Information Office Turkish Consulate General in Dubai. “Bursa was the first capital city of the Ottoman Empire and the village of Cumalıkızık has a 700-year history, so these places are both culturally and historically significant for the Turkish people. In addition,Pergamon in Izmir was once considered the heart of the literature and art scene in Turkey, housing some of the biggest libraries of the Hellenistic period.”Turkey now has 13 cultural and mixed locations - with the new addition of Bursa and Pergamon - listed as World Heritage sites under Unesco's Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The other 11 sites include the Historic Areas of Istanbul, the Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi, Hattusha, Mount Nemrut, Xanthos-Letoon, Troy, Goreme National Park and Cappadocia, Hierapolis-Pamukkale, the City of Safranbolu, the Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex and the Neolithic Site of Catalhoyuk. Turkey has 52 mentions on Unesco’s Tentative List of World Heritage sites in the cultural, natural and historical categories.