By MWANGALA LISELI –
TURKISH ambassador Ahmet Arda has said that the display of cultural heritage is important in raising the beauty of a country and defining people’s identity.
Mr Arda said cultural heritage needed to be celebrated as it was marketing the country and putting it on the global map.
The Turkish Embassy celebrated its cultural heritage on Friday evening through a photographic exhibition of its world heritage sites at the Lusaka National Museum.
The exhibition was in line with Zambia’s Golden Jubilee celebration this year.
“We thought of Zambia because cultural issues would be more proper to celebrate during an anniversary like this one, the Golden Jubilee,” Mr Arda said.
He urged Zambia to abide by the rules and regulations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) convention in order to get other sites registered instead of having just one site (Victoria Falls) registered.
Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) managing director Felix Chaila said in an interview that display of cultural heritage created understanding of people’s identity.
Mr Chaila said such events also brought people together from different parts of the world creating cultural exchanges that help to understand each other better.
He said Zambia had a rich culture and encouraged documenting and displaying it apart from just talking about it.
Zambia museum director, Friday Mufuzi said heritage sites in the country were important as they represented humanity.
Dr Mufuzi said Zambia was still striving to preserve its cultural heritage and could therefore learn from Turkey which has 11 sites recognised by UNESCO.
He said by documenting the country’s cultural heritage, it would make more income by attracting more tourists thereby creating more jobs for the youths.