The eighth session of UNESCO’s Committee on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage opened in Baku. During this session, the committee has heard reports from member countries on the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and considered applications for the inclusion of cultural assets on the list. Turkish coffee was one of the assets under consideration after its proposal to UNESCO by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The Committee on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, including 800 delegates from 103 countries, has assessed 31 candidates for the list of intangible cultural heritage so far and approved Turkish coffee and its traditions as an addition to the list. The decision means that UNESCO will take measures to protect the Turkish coffee tradition, which has become Turkey’s 11th heritage item on the list.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Ömer Çelik announced the good news on his Twitter account.
Turkey proposed the ancient Turkish spring celebration Hıdırellez and the Turkish art of paper marbling called “ebru” as further candidates for the intangible heritage list in UNESCO’s 2014 assessment.
