The Turkish government’s infrastructure and restoration projects are worrying civil society representatives in the country, concerned that Istanbul’s historic sites could be removed from UNESCO’s world heritage list. Touching on these concerns, UNESCO Director General İrina Bokova has told the Hürriyet Daily News that her organization is “watching very closely what is happening.” Link

The number of tourists visiting the ancient city of Sardis in İzmir’s Salihli district has increased three fold over the last five years, thanks to promotional work. The ancient city was the capital of Lydia, the civilization that invented money. Link

UNESCO’s fourth Chair on Management and Promotion of World Heritage Sites was launched on Jan. 7 at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.“From the historic areas of Istanbul, to the Selimiye Mosque, to the rock sites of Cappadocia … each of these sites has special meaning for the people of this country … each is also part of the wider history of humanity,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, at a signing ceremony at the university. Link

New sections of a summer palace built for Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad on the shore of Lake Beyşehir have come to the surface, but the fate of the ancient site remains unclear due to a lack of funding for its restoration. Link

Half of the directors working in British theatre, some on the country’s most prestigious stages, are earning less than £5,000 a year, according to research. The news coincides with warnings that “brilliant minds” are being forced out of theatre, unable to make a decent living. Link

The Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) put out a selection of short films themed around gender equality online on Wednesday via its YouTube account, presenting the winners of a nationwide competition it launched last year. Link

A site in the Central Anatolian province of Yozgat’s Sorgun district, which the ancient Hittites had used as a sculpture atelier, will be reorganized as an open-air museum by Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry. 
As part of the project, the Karakız, Kazankaya, Armutlu and Hapis Boğazı neighborhoods will be declared as first degree archaeological areas, according to local Mayor Osman Yılmaz. Link

Next month's !f İstanbul International Independent Film Festival will reach out to cineastes in 29 cities across Turkey and in an additional six locations abroad -- including the Armenian and Israeli capitals -- with special screenings, the organizers of the event announced Wednesday. Link

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova handed over the certificate documenting the entry of Bursa’s Cumalıkızık and İzmir’s Bergama, also known as Pergamon, to Çelik at a ceremony at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara on Jan. 6. Link

The ancient city of Ephesus in western Turkey is expected to enter the UNESCO World Heritage List this year, after 22 years of efforts. Dating back to the 6th century B.C., Ephesus hosts around 2 million local and international tourists every year. Although it has been added to the UNESCO tentative list, along with 37 other sites in Turkey, it has failed to be included in the main list so far. Link