JINHA

AMED - Diyarbakır's city walls and historic Hevsel Gardens area have been added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, along with Izmir's ancient city of Ephesus.

The 39th UNESCO World Heritage Committee Meeting took place over the weekend in Bonn, Germany. The committee reviewed nearly 40 applications for World Heritage Site status from countries around the world. Diyarbakır co-mayors GültanKışanak and FıratAnlı have long been working on the UNESCO process. Now, the historic black basalt city walls of Diyarbakır and the Hevsel Gardens (a historic cultural-ecological area that supplied the city's food for thousands of years) have been added to the list.

The ancient Greek city of Ephesus, located near the Aegean city of Izmir, has also entered the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Temple of Artemis in the city was known as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Turkey now has 15 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

(gc/mg/cm)