United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization

Bulgaria's last King and former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha has called for support for the candidacy of Irina Bokova for United Nations Secretary General.

It's very important to support Bokova, not just because she is Bulgarian, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha told reporters in Sofia on Saturday evening.

The ancient city of Troy, located in Tevfikiye village in the northwestern province of Çanakkale and placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998, is one of the most popular sites for tourists visiting the region. The ancient city received 480,418 local and foreign tourists last year.

The restoration of the 900-year-old Mengücek Castle in Divri?i in Central Anatolia has received a shot in the arm thanks to the construction of a cable car to help carry massive stones to aid in the fortress' refurbishment.

Equal opportunities for men and women and the integration of migrants should be at the core of the United Nations' efforts during the next Secretary General's term of office, Irina Bokova, the Bulgarian UN top job candidate, said on Tuesday.

Former Macedonian foreign minister and the U.N. General Assembly's 62nd president, Srgjan Kerim, has requested Turkey's support for his candidacy to succeed Ban Ki-moon as U.N. secretary general.

Eight candidates to take over as the next UN Secretary General are due to attend a first-of-a-kind informal hearing starting April 12, Tuesday.

The archaeological site of Hattusha, the capital of the Hittite civilization which entered the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1986, was visited by a number of ambassadors in Turkey over the weekend as part of its two-day 30th anniversary celebrations organized by the governor's office in the Central Anatolian province Çorum.

For the first time in the United Nations' 70-year history, candidates vying to become secretary-general will make their pitch for the job to world governments in hearings beginning next week.

Turkey is investigating Russian claims that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria and Iraq have profited from smuggling stolen antiquities through its territory, despite its belief the charges were politically motivated, a Turkish official said on April 7. 

Almost half of all natural UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Great Barrier Reef and Machu Picchu, are threatened by industrial activities such as mining, oil exploration and illegal logging, conservation group WWF warned on April 6.