JINHA

AMED - The Turkish state has demolished all historical sites in Sur for 85 days. Yıldız Tahtacı, an activist from the Amed Ecology Assembly, criticized UNESCO's silence. She said, "The Ministry of Culture sends reports to UNESCO. UNESCO's interlocutor is the state itself."

State forces have attacked the Sur district of Diyarbakır with a 24-hour curfew for 85 days. The attacks cause human rights violations and have demolished cultural and historical memory. UNESCO added the walls of Diyarbakır and the area inside the city walls (Suriçi) to the World Cultural Heritage list. However, it is keeping silent about the intense attacks to the historical area. We got the opinion of Yıldız Tahtacı, an activist from the Amed Ecology Assembly, about the issue. Yıldız stressed that UNESCO takes the Ministry of Culture's reports into consideration. Yıldız said that the Amed Ecology Assembly is currently conducting projects on the destruction. "We will call on international organizations about the destructions and injustices," said Yıldız.

"The Ministry of Culture sends reports to UNESCO, so UNESCO's interlocutor is the state itself. We can only get information from the municipality." said Yıldız. Yıldız also said that the municipality has limited information and they can report this information only. The municipality sends these reports to the ministries and organizations. However, UNESCO gets reports from the Ministry of Culture. They don't consider the municipality's reports.

Yıldız said that they, as the Amed Ecology Assembly, would apply to UNESCO about the cultural heritage and would apply to UNICEF about the condition of children. "We will call on international organizations. We will call them to do their duty by saying 'Don't you see what is going on here? You keep silent.'"

(de-be/mg/gd)