A campaign has been initiated for the recognition of the ancient city of Ani as a “world heritage site” by UNESCO.
Kars Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Hakan Doğanay, in a statement to Anadolu Agency, said that if the proposal were accepted, the ancient city of Ani would be the 16th World Heritage site in Turkey.
Doğanay explained that the ancient city of Ani attracted the interest of both domestic and foreign tourists, adding, “As the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in February 2015, we prepared a comprehensive file on the ancient city of Ani and applied to UNESCO. We have been included on the tentative list, and we continue to campaign for Ani’s inclusion on the primary list.”
Doğanay underlined the fact that a team to be appointed by UNESCO would come to Kars for examinations, and said:
“With recent inclusions, Turkey now has 15 sites on the World Heritage Sites list. The most recent inclusions are the Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape and the ancient city of Ephesus. In September, a UNESCO team will carry out its final examination in Kars. We expect the ancient city of Ani to be included on the permanent list as the 16th World Heritage Site in Turkey by the end of this year.”
