Turkey’s third-largest city Izmir hosted a conference Monday gathering experts from Turkey and Italy within the scope of joint efforts to include Genoese artifacts on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and promoting them to the world.
The conference was attended by diplomats, businesspeople and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Italy as part of the joint work initiated to include the artifacts on the shores of the Black Sea and Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Izmir Governor Yavuz Selim Kosger stressed that the Genoese discovered the commercial potential of Izmir years ago and built “permanent works of art” in the region.
He also emphasized that Izmir, which has been a trade center for centuries, has an important infrastructure in tourism nowadays with its natural beauty and genuine cuisine.
“We need to think about where we want to reach in tourism and bring all the components together and move Izmir and Turkey to the…