Decision 43 COM 7B.90

Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape (Turkey) (C 1488)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.50, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Notes the work carried out by the State Party to rehabilitate and protect the property and its buffer zone; however regrets that the reconstruction work has started before the mission has taken place and its conclusions known and before Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) were undertaken for all projects and submitted for review by the Advisory Bodies;
4. Request all projects that could affect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property be halted until the recommendations of the Reactive Monitoring mission are known and adopted by the Committee;
5. Also notes that the 2012 Conservation Plan for the property was modified and therefore also requests the State Party to halt the implementation of the 2016 Conservation Plan and to revert to the 2012 Conservation Plan until the revised Conservation Plan has been submitted to the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, for review;
6. Reiterates its request to the State Party to carry out HIAs for urban design, landscape and infrastructural projects which may have an impact on the OUV of the property, in conformity with the ICOMOS Guidance on HIAs for Cultural World Heritage, before these projects are implemented;
7. Recommends that the urban dimension of the property and its buffer zone be fully reflected in the policies, measures and tools adopted to ensure the conservation of the property; using if necessary the approach carried by the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (2011);
8. Thanks the State Party for the invitation for a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to evaluate the overall state of conservation of the property; and urges the State Party to inform the World Heritage Centre on the possible dates for the mission;
9. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020.