Latest News From Syria
20/7/2008
156
Palmyra, the archaeological jewel of the East was the subject of a very heated seminar few weeks ago. The controversial issue at hand was the future of the oasis city which has been on the UNESCO world heritage list since 1980. The heated discussions were lead by the new business-government coalition from one side and scholars and archaeologists on the other side.
Plans to turn the ancient oasis city into a cosmopolitan center of mass leisure tourism were unraveled by the government team, namely the governorate of Homs and the Ministry of Tourism, and supported by private real-estate companies who were looking to seize all the available opportunities. Much to the horror of most of the audience, the governor of Homs informed everyone who attended, including the Prime Minister who had sponsored the seminar, that works have already started to build palaces overlooking the ancient ruins for Arab dignitaries, and this has been simply done without even bothering to inform the UNESCO.
Unfortunately, it has become very evident that a new sinister coalition between some Syrian and Arab businessmen and key governmental employees are beginning to emerge in the new market-based economy which Syria has adopted. This type of unlawful collaboration is directly threatening the countries’ assets; and unless the process of transparent discussions, like the ones which took place at the seminar, are supported and maintained, there will be a systematic destruction of Syria’s vast wealth of cultural heritage.
For more information about the conclusions of the seminar, please follow this link: www.britishsyriansociety.org/pal2008/recommendations.asp
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Plans to turn the ancient oasis city into a cosmopolitan center of mass leisure tourism were unraveled by the government team, namely the governorate of Homs and the Ministry of Tourism, and supported by private real-estate companies who were looking to seize all the available opportunities. Much to the horror of most of the audience, the governor of Homs informed everyone who attended, including the Prime Minister who had sponsored the seminar, that works have already started to build palaces overlooking the ancient ruins for Arab dignitaries, and this has been simply done without even bothering to inform the UNESCO.
Unfortunately, it has become very evident that a new sinister coalition between some Syrian and Arab businessmen and key governmental employees are beginning to emerge in the new market-based economy which Syria has adopted. This type of unlawful collaboration is directly threatening the countries’ assets; and unless the process of transparent discussions, like the ones which took place at the seminar, are supported and maintained, there will be a systematic destruction of Syria’s vast wealth of cultural heritage.
For more information about the conclusions of the seminar, please follow this link: www.britishsyriansociety.org/pal2008/recommendations.asp
do not necessarily represent the views of Souria.com’s management
Comments / 2
1 - Don Rose
7/22/2008
Palmyra as well as Ebla, Rustafa etc. are all jewels which my wife and I have visited in Syria. Obviously Syria, which has fantastic ancient sites needs income from tourists as does Egypt, Turkey and Italy. I think a market-based economy would benefit Syria. I suggest readers go to www.en.wikipedia.org and type in Palmyra for a short concise history of the place.
2 - Don Rose
7/22/2008
Forgot to mention that in using wikipedia.org that Arabic can be "clicked-on" for easier reading by those using this excellent website!
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