News
Director-General on Official Visit to the Republic of Turkey
From 4 to 8 January, UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, is traveling to the Republic of Turkey for an official visit. This is the first official visit during the year celebrating the 70th anniversary of the creation of UNESCO.
She will spend the first half of her visit in Ankara, where she is expected to meet with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as with Prime Minister Professor Dr Ahmet Davutoglu.
She is also expected to meet a number of high level government representatives, including H.E. Mevl眉t 脟avu艧o臒lu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Education, H. E. Nabi Avci, and the Minister of Culture and Tourism, H. E. 脰mer 脟elik. The Director-General will meet also with the President of the Turkish National Commission, Professor Dr. 脰cal O臒uz
Irina Bokova will take part in the 7th Conference of Ambassadors organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Conference will be held under the theme 鈥淣ew Turkey: Continuity and Change in Foreign Policy鈥 and the Director-General will give a keynote speech on 鈥淐ulture of Peace 鈥 UNESCO鈥檚 Vision and Practice鈥.
In Ankara, the Director-General will participate in a ceremony to present the World Heritage Certificates for the newly inscribed sites of 鈥淧ergamon Multi-layered Cultural Landscape鈥 and 鈥淏ursa and Cumal谋k谋z谋k: the Birth of an Empire鈥 on the UNESCO World Heritage List, at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, with H.E. 脰mer 脟elik, Minister of Culture and Tourism.
In Istanbul, the Director-General is expected to meet with the Mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topbas. She will also have the opportunity to meet with representatives of civil society and the private sector.
She will also speak at Ko莽 University on the theme 鈥淓mpowering Women Leadership鈥, in the presence of the Chair of the Vehbi Ko莽 Foundation, Semahat Arsel, the President of the University, Umran Inan, the Director of the KOC-KAM Centre for Gender Studies, Professor 脟i臒dem Ka臒谋t莽谋ba艧谋. UNESCO and Ko莽 University have a long-standing collaboration for women鈥檚 empowerment and gender equality. On this occasion, Irina Bokova will be designated as the first KO脟-KAM Semahat Arsel Distinguished Fellow.
While in Istanbul, the Director-General is also expected to sign an agreement with Kadir Has University establishing a UNESCO Chair on Management and Promotion of World Heritage Sites: New Media and Community Involvement at the University.
