Turkey has been elected by 121 votes to the World Heritage Committee, one of the most important bodies of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), for the period 2013-2017 during the elections held in Paris on November 19, 2013.
Turkey had previously served in the World Heritage Committee between 1983 and 1989.
In a statement by the Foreign Ministry it was said "The World Heritage Committee, entrusted with promoting the cultural and natural assets of universal value that are considered the common heritage of humanity, creating awareness and a sense of ownership for such heritage in different societies and taking the necessary measures for preserving cultural and natural assets which have been spoiled due to various causes, administers the World Heritage List in which 11 areas in Turkey are also registered. Presently, the World Heritage List includes 981 protected areas and cultural assets from 160 countries."
It was also stated that as a member of the World Heritage Committee, Turkey intends to share at the international scale the experience and knowledge it has accumulated in managing and protecting its own 11 world heritage areas representing different layers of Anatolian civilization, including Neolithic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods.
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