Georgia and Turkey sign deal to preserve historical monuments

Georgia and Turkey will work together on restoring and safeguarding monuments of cultural heritage found on the territory of the two states, in an agreement signed in Tbilisi earlier today.

The deal will see state cultural agencies take on the responsibility of rehabilitating historical monuments and create joint teams for assessing their condition.

The agreement will involve medieval monuments of the Ottoman Empire on the Georgian territory, and Georgian historical sites found in today's Turkey.

The agreement between the two countries was signed at the Administration of the Government of Georgia in Tbilisi earlier today. Photo: Georgia's Culture Ministry press office.

Announced by the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, the cooperation will run for the years 2017-2021.

Split into three stages, the joint work will begin with selection of monuments in need of immediate restoration.

Selected based on standards set by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the monuments will undergo complex geological, artistic and engineering research before work is laid out to prevent their disintegration.

Stage two will see work move onto less damaged monuments and involve efforts for improving the state of their conservation.

The Oshki Church was built in the medieval Georgian principality of Tao-Klarjeti, now a territory in modern Turkey’s Erzurum province. Photo: Nikoloz Aleksidze‎/Facebook.

These plans also include measures for correcting negative effects of past rehabilitation works, sometimes carried out without agreement on methodology between the two sides.

Beside restoration and conservation of the monuments themselves, the joint effort will also involve cataloguing items, exhibits and inventory in monuments of cultural heritage, within the third and final stage of the deal.

Turkish and Georgian professionals of cultural field also agreed to set out measures for assisting visiting experts in finding and obtaining information on the sites, including photographs and maps, from historical archives of host country.

Additional agreements signed within the deal will involve cooperation in areas including theatre, cinema and literature.