Action against copyright trafficking in Turkey

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey and the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice (Italy) are jointly organizing a regional meeting on “Capacity-building and awareness-raising on the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property” for the South-East European region on 19-21 November 2012 in Gaziantep, Turkey. The meeting is organized with the support of the Gaziantep Governatorate, the Gaziantep Municipality and the Zeugma Mosaics Museum. The meeting will be opened by Anthony Krause, Head of Culture Unit of the UNESCO Venice Office; Öcal O?uz, President of the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO; Murat Süslü, General Director for Cultural Assets and Museums, Ministry of Culture and Tourism; As?m Güzelbey, Mayor of Gaziantep Municipality: Erdal Ata, Governor of Gaziantep Province. This meeting, developed within the framework of UNESCO’s new global initiative, “Culture: a Bridge to Development”, aims at building regional and local capacities in South-East Europe (participating countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey), bringing together 40 experts and professionals from the region. Beneficiaries from the training will be high level professionals from the region, representing experts from the ministries of culture, ministries of interior, the judiciary system, cultural sites or institutions challenged by situations of illicit trafficking, and media professionals. The meeting, conducted by a pool of international experts and professionals, will last 3 days and be structured around two trainings (a legal and an operational one) with the following modules: assessment of international and national legislations; Modalities for return and restitution; Training on the use of operational tools, especially for museums and cultural institutions; Police and customs role in the fight against illicit trafficking; Media and Awareness raising. The main objectives of the meeting are: ratification and effective implementation of the 1970 Convention and other relevant instruments on the fight against illicit traffic and the restitution of cultural objects; effective use of legal and operational tools to safeguard and preserve cultural heritage; development of national capacities for the protection and conservation of movable cultural property; and, awareness raised on the need of fighting against the illicit trafficking of cultural property. The meeting is part of a series of training sessions also organized by UNESCO in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, to strengthen the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural objects in UNESCO Member States.