International experts held meeting on safeguarding of Syria’s cultural heritage

The participants in the international experts’ meeting held in Berlin have underscored the necessity of preserving Syria’s cultural heritage, according to the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums in Damascus.

The DGAM said in statement released Monday that  the participants called for mobilizing international and Syrian efforts to safeguard Syria’s heritage and indicated the need to develop a common damage assessment and to define priorities in emergency safeguarding measures for the sites affected by the war.

“The participants referred to the importance of systematic and continuous scientific work on damage assessmentto draw up the future intervention plans and priorities,” the statement said.

DGAM’s role

It added that the participants also assessed the role and measures taken by the DGAM, which contributed significantly to the mitigation of damages, effectively reducing the losses of Syria’s cultural heritage.

“They praised the pivotal role played by the DGAM to serve the key part of the heritage of mankind in Syria where a  number of employees lost their lives and  others endangered their lives for the sake of that heritage. They underlined the importance of providing support  to the DGAM employees to enable them to continue their work under the difficult circumstances the country has been going through for more than five years.”

Add to that, the meeting focused on the involvement of the local community in protecting the cultural heritage and on urging countries to implement the Security Council Resolution No.2199, which criminalizes trafficking Syrian and Iraqi antiquities.

Over 230 experts

More than 230 Syrian and international experts took part the meeting organized by the UNESCO in cooperation with the Federal Office in Berlin and the German Archeological Institute on June 2-4.

The meeting aimed to unify, coordinate and activate communication for exchanging information about the Syrian sites, and to reach a consensus on the initial priorities, to coordinate activities for emergency procedures, as well as to find a common vision to serve Syria’s cultural heritage.

Since 2011, Syria has faced a foreign-backed terror war targeting its army, people, civilization and infrastructures.

Basma Qaddour