UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and French President Francois Hollande sent a strong message of solidarity to the people of Iraq and Syria, and reiterated the urgent need to safeguard cultural heritage of both countries.
The President and the Director-General also unequivocally condemned as war crimes the deliberate destruction of several cultural heritage sites in Iraq over recent weeks and months by the extremists known as Daesh.. They include the Mosul Museum, the World Heritage site of Hatra, Nimrud and Khorsabad. They stressed their determination to work together against the illicit traffic of cultural goods from this “cradle of civilization”.