UNESCO Chief Visits Iraq

UNESCO Chief Audrey Azoulay at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad (AFP)
UNESCO Chief Audrey Azoulay at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad (AFP)
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UNESCO Chief Visits Iraq

UNESCO Chief Audrey Azoulay at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad (AFP)
UNESCO Chief Audrey Azoulay at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad (AFP)

UNESCO Chief Audrey Azoulay arrived on Monday in Iraq at the start of a three-day visit. She visited several workshops and archaeological sites in Baghdad and discussed with officials the matters related to supporting culture and education.

A UNESCO spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the visit is dedicated to rebuilding Iraq and the organization’s investment in its reconstruction.

Azoulay stopped at the National Museum in Baghdad and toured the old city and al-Mutanabbi Street which is famous for its libraries.

The spokesman added that the Iraqi authorities are studying several ideas for preserving the heritage and considering how UNESCO can help shed light on the country’s cultural aspect and pave the way for development.

Iraq includes six UNESCO-listed World Heritage Sites, among them the ancient city of Babylon, and is the cradle of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian civilizations.

After the US invasion in 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime, many of Iraq’s antiquities were stolen and smuggled outside the country.

The Iraq Museum was not immune to looting in 2003 amid the chaos that followed the US invasion.

During her visit to the museum, Azoulay congratulated the museum staff who have been working since 2003 to return the stolen artifacts.

The spokesman said that during 20 years, the staff had done a tremendous job recovering the scattered Iraqi antiquities.

On Tuesday, Azoulay is scheduled to visit Mosul to inspect the rehabilitation workshops of archaeological sites that UNESCO is funding in this large city in northern Iraq, a stronghold of the terrorist ISIS organization before its defeat in 2017.

On Wednesday, the official will land in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, and will visit the ancient Erbil Citadel, classified as a UNESCO heritage site.



Greece to Build Escape Port on Santorini as Quakes Continue

FILE PHOTO: People board a ferry to Piraeus, during an increased seismic activity on the island of Santorini, Greece, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People board a ferry to Piraeus, during an increased seismic activity on the island of Santorini, Greece, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo
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Greece to Build Escape Port on Santorini as Quakes Continue

FILE PHOTO: People board a ferry to Piraeus, during an increased seismic activity on the island of Santorini, Greece, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People board a ferry to Piraeus, during an increased seismic activity on the island of Santorini, Greece, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo

Greece will soon set up an evacuation port on the island of Santorini to facilitate the safe escape of people in case a bigger quake hits the popular tourist destination, a Greek minister said on Monday.
Santorini, a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea, has been shaken by tens of thousands of mild quakes since late January, forcing thousands of people to flee, and authorities to ban construction activity, and shut schools and nearby islands.
No major damage has been reported but scientists have said the seismic activity was unprecedented even in a quake-prone country like Greece and have not ruled out bigger tremors.
They have identified the main ferry port at the foot of a precipitous slope and other sites across Santorini as weak links, although they have not said they cannot be used in an emergency situation, Reuters reported.
Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Greece will build an evacuation port for the safe docking of passenger ferries until a new port infrastructure is in place.
"Along with the new port in Santorini which is being prepared, there was a decision for setting up an escape port on the part of the island where passenger ferries would be able to dock in an emergency," he said in an interview with Greek ANT1 television.
Although the tremors lessened over the weekend, local authorities extended emergency measures for a third week on Sunday and reiterated calls for people to stay away from coastal areas and steep hillsides prone to landslides.
"This story is not over," Costas Papazachos, a seismology professor, and a spokesperson for the Santorini quakes told public broadcaster ERT.
"Both authorities and habitants should get used to a rather unpleasant situation for some time, it could be another two, three months."
Santorini took its current shape following one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, around 1600 BC.
Seismologists have said the latest seismic activity, the result of moving tectonic plates and magma, has pushed subsurface layers of the island upwards.