Diyarbakir residents delight at UNESCO recognition in Turkey’s Kurdish capital

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – Residents in Diyarbakir, the capital of Turkey’s Kurdish heartland in the southeast, are delighted that two historical sites in their city have been included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

UNESCO’s decision Saturday to add Diyarbakir’s ancient city walls and the Hevsel Gardens, on the banks of the Tigris River, was celebrated with fireworks outside the municipality in Diyarbakir.

For Ahmet Yildirim, who works at a tourist office in Diyarbakir, the addition to the Heritage List is a huge recognition of Turkey’s Kurdish southeast and its contribution to the national heritage.

”For too long, eastern Turkey was seen as a boring place,” he explained. ”Very few Turkish tourists would come, We hope more tourists will come now."

Ayse Coban, who works as a hotel receptionist, said ”the decision strengthens our image and emphasizes once again that the region has important cultural and historical sites." 

Nezahat Arslan, a childcare worker in Denmark who was  was born and raised in Diyarbakir, beamed with delight that UNESCO has put her hometown on the map: "I hope my hometown will be more known and opened to the world outside after this decision."

Every summer when she returns to the city of her birth, she visits both the walls and the gardens.

Mehmet Amedi was born in Norway. But he is clearly proud of his roots Diyarbakir roots.

"Earlier the Kurdish part of Turkey and Diyarbakir were seen as underdeveloped, dangerous and boring for tourists in Europe and Turkey. Now, hopefully that will change," he said.

Diyarbakir co-mayors Gultan Kısanak and Fırat Anli welcomed the decision in a press release, saying UNESCO had strengthened the preservation of the historical sites: ”From now on we will work together to preserve, restore and strengthen tourism," she said in a joint statement.

”No one should doubt that we will protect these priceless heritage sites as we would our own eye, because it is humanity's heritage to us.” Kisanak said in a further message on the municipality's website.

”This decision to add the sites not only protects Diyarbakir city walls and the Hevsel gardens. It further gives us courage to protect the culture of the entire nearby area,” Kisanak added.

The Diyarbakir City Walls were built in 349 A.D. during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine II. The walls of the fortress, which are almost five kilometers long, contain 82 bastions and have four gates.

The 8,000-year-old Hevsel Gardens are the fertile lands between the City Walls and the Tigris River valley.

The day after the Diyarbakir honors, UNESCO also inscribed on its list the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey’s central Aegean region, whose excavated remains expose centuries of history.