SCTA to study Turkish heritage model

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) is exploring the prospect of adopting the Turkish model in preserving and developing urban heritage sites. SCTA will undertake an exploratory tour to Turkey next week. The National Urban Heritage Center will represent SCTA in organizing the weeklong tour from next Sunday, according to Moshari Al-Naeem, supervisor of the center. Several senior officials from the ministries of interior, and municipal and rural affairs, including regional governors and municipal chiefs, will join the SCTA officials in the tour, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Saudi officials will meet with officials of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and municipal authorities. They will also visit major urban heritage sites, including those in Mardin and Elton Dagi in Ankara, as well as those in Cappadocia and Istanbul. Al-Naeem said the SCTA team would strive to have a closer look at the way the Turkish authorities have preserved and developed their urban heritage sites. “The Turkish local authorities are successful in the preservation and development of these sites in addition to generating revenues through pumping investments with the participation of both the public and private sectors,” he said, while stressing that the center is exerting all efforts to preserve and develop the Kingdom’s urban heritage. “We have raised at the center a logo with the inscriptions ‘Urban heritage…from extinction to flourishing.’” Mohsin Al-Qarni, executive director of the center, said that the Turkish trip titled “Program of Exploratory Experiment” is also aimed at introducing pioneering experiments in the preservation of urban heritage to SCTA’s partners in both the ministries, in addition to take advantage of them economically.