UNESCO picks Türkiye to host 49th World Heritage Committee session

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has selected Türkiye to host its 49th session in Istanbul next year, organisers announced on July 28.

The decision was made during the committee's 48th session, currently taking place in the southeastern South Korean city of Busan, Caliber.Az reports via Yonhap.

According to the Turkish delegation, the 49th session will be held in Istanbul from June 27 to July 7, 2027. In line with established practice, Türkiye will also assume the committee's chairmanship, while Armenia, Grenada, Vietnam, Tanzania and Kuwait were elected as vice-chairs.

Türkiye last hosted the committee's 40th session in Istanbul in July 2016. The meeting was interrupted by a failed military coup attempt and resumed three months later at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

The World Heritage Committee serves as UNESCO's principal decision-making body on world heritage matters. It consists of 21 members elected from the 196 states parties to the World Heritage Convention and convenes annually to evaluate new nominations and monitor the conservation status of listed heritage sites.

By Jeyhun Aghazada