UNESCO sounds alarm over quake damage to Turkey, Syria heritage
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While UNESCO warns about the damage the earthquake has caused to Aleppo, a resident says the minaret of the mosque, which is inside the citadel of Aleppo, was damaged.
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The minaret of the mosque inside Aleppo's UNESCO-listed citadel seen before and after Monday's earthquake (AFP)
UNESCO said two sites in Syria and Turkey, listed on its World Heritage list, suffered damage in the powerful earthquake and warned several other sites may also have been struck.
The earthquake that shook the two countries early Monday affected one of the longest continuously-inhabited areas on earth within the so-called Fertile Crescent, which has seen different civilizations emerging, from the Hittites to the Ottomans.
This rich history has left behind a plethora of thousands of years old archeological sites which have attracted tourists for decades.
Not only the earthquake caused a lot of damage to the old city of Syria's Aleppo and the fortress in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, but at least three other World Heritage sites could also be affected, according to UNESCO, including the famous archaeological site Nemrut Dag.
المديرية العامة للآثار والمتاحف#حلب:
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تعرضت قلعة حلب لأضرار طفيفة ومتوسطة . pic.twitter.com/bDDZPH7D2w
"Our organization will provide assistance within its mandate," said UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay, while partners had already conducted a preliminary survey of the quake's damage.
UNESCO said it was "particularly concerned" about the old city of Aleppo, which has been, due to the war on Syria, on its list of World Heritage in Danger since 2013.
"Significant damage has been noted in the citadel. The western tower of the old city wall has collapsed and several buildings in the souks have been weakened," it said.
Aleppo was known to be Syria's commercial hub before the war and considered one of the world's longest continuously inhabited cities, with mosques, boasting markets, caravanserais, and public baths.
Syria's directorate of antiquities had already voiced concern on Wednesday about the damage, saying parts of Aleppo's northern defensive walls had collapsed.
Ancient City of Aleppo, Minaret of Great Mosque damaged by earthquake
The major earthquake damaged Aleppo, including the minaret of the citadel's Great Mosque, as well as its towers and walls, a local resident told Sputnik on Tuesday.
On Monday, a major 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killed over 6,000 people in both countries and flattened thousands of buildings.
"I was told that the minaret of the mosque, which is inside the citadel of Aleppo, was damaged. The stones of the observation tower also collapsed, the walls were damaged too. No one is allowed into the area," the local resident said.
Other buildings of the Ancient City were damaged as well, he added.
"There is a very old mosque 50 meters from the citadel... Its minaret collapsed," the resident said.
Rescue teams are still clearing debris and looking for survivors in Aleppo's historical center, the resident added.
"This is Baron Street in central Aleppo. The building collapsed during the earthquake. Rescuers are still looking for survivors. Police said they found one survivor 30 minutes ago. He was immediately taken to the hospital," he said.
Earlier in the day, UNESCO said it would bring its experts to evaluate the damage caused by the earthquake to objects of cultural heritage in Turkey and Syria, including the fortress of Gaziantep and the citadel of Aleppo.
In 1986, Aleppo's citadel was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site among other monuments of the Ancient City.
