UNESCO supports Iraq against destruction of cultural heritage

BAGHDAD, Nov. 2  -- UNESCO chief Irina Bokova on Sunday voiced support for the Iraqi government against "barbaric" destruction of the Iraqi cultural heritage, as the Islamic State ( IS) militant group destroyed several ancient sites in the country.

"I've come here to represent UNESCO with strong message of support and solidarity with Iraqi people in a very difficult and challenging time. Iraq and Iraqi people possess one of the richest culture heritage which belong to the whole humanity," Bokova, the Director General of UNESCO, told a joint press conference with Iraqi ministers of education and antiquities at the building of the National Museum in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

"Iraq has thousands of temples, of buildings, of archeological sites, of objects, that represent a treasure for humanity," Bokova said.

"We cannot agree that this treasure, this legacy of human civilization, is being destroyed by the most barbaric manner," Bokova added.

"We have to act, we don't have time to lose, because the extremists are trying to erase the identity, because they know if there is no identity, there is no memory and no history, and we think that this is not acceptable," she said.

She said that her visit to Iraq includes holding talks with the Iraqi President Fuad Masoum and the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, in addition to the ministers of antiquities and education to discuss "how UNESCO could continue to support the government and the Iraqi people in this very difficult time."

For his part, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Adel Shirshab said that Iraq is keen to enhance cooperation with UNESCO to benefit from its technical expertise in order to protect the country's antiquities.

"Cooperation with UNESCO would enable us to bring back many of our smuggled antiquities, in addition to benefit from their expertise by holding training and developing courses," Shirshab said.

Earlier in the day, Bokova arrived in Baghdad on a one-day official visit to discuss the attacks against the country's cultural heritage and diversity with Iraqi leaders and officials.

Later on, she will fly to the city of Arbil, the capital of Iraq's northern semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan and is also expected to meet with regional Prime Minister Nechrivan Barzani, before carrying out other activities, including meeting with representatives of cultural minorities, according to a statement posted on the UNESCO website.

The security situation began to drastically deteriorate in the country on June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS militant group, an al-Qaida offshoot, who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.

The extremist IS militants destroyed many old temples, shrines, churches and precious manuscripts in the cities of Mosul and many other areas, including the ancient Green Church in Tikrit.