An Assessment about Natural Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage in Turkey

One of the most significant factors that threaten historic settlements and cultural assets is climate change and natural events, frequency and intensity of which have been accelerating. Preventive conservation, prevention, mitigation and disaster risk management are subjects that have been discussed at international level especially in the last 30 years. Awareness of the significance of disaster risk management of cultural heritage has grown due to the efforts, studies and publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and other international organizations. Increasing the resilience of cultural assets and historic settlements through ‘preparedness’ activities and securing their recovery in case of destruction is essential to preserve their economic, and social functionality and to transmit their values to new generations. Turkey’s cultural heritage is threatened by natural hazards like earthquake, flood, avalanche, storm and rockfall. However, there are not policies on prevention and mitigation of the negative impacts of these hazards on cultural assets. Protecting cultural heritage from disasters is a significant issue that should be taken into account in both disaster risk management and cultural heritage conservation processes in Turkey, and that requires collaboration among all related stakeholders. Risk management policies should aim for protecting all categories of cultural assets, including movable, immovable, tangible and intangible, from the impacts of natural hazards. Within the context of these policies, developing disaster risk management law for safeguarding cultural heritage from disasters, developing capacities of related institutions, collaboration with related stakeholders, the preparation and implementation of disaster risk management plans that are based on information and analyses are important topics to be considered