- Title: Craftsmen to help UNESCO rebuild old Aleppo
- Date: 3rd August 2017
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CRAFTSMAN MUSTAFA AL-NOW, SAYING: "We are training a new generation in free courses to make the rebuilding process quick. There must be more than ten trainees if we have financial support from the government and donors. The old city will return in 10-15 years and it will be better than it was before." VARIOUS OF HOUSES RESTORED BY AL-NOW (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MUSTAFA AL-NOW, CRAFTSMAN, SAYING: "Currently we have six-months training and we will give every trainee a symbolic amount of money which is 6000 liras (12 U.S. dollars) monthly in addition to food and transportation. It is something to survive on and learn a craft." ALEPPO, SYRIA (JULY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ALEPPO CITADEL - MEDIEVAL FORTIFIED PALACE ALEPPO, SYRIA (JULY 16, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DAMAGE IN OLD ALEPPO VARIOUS OF DAMAGE IN OLD HOUSES
- Embargoed: 17th August 2017 14:17
- Keywords: rebuild Old Aleppo UNESCO Craftsman Syria civil war Assad Banja Luka Bosnia
- Location: ALEPPO, SYRIA and BANJA LUKA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
- City: ALEPPO, SYRIA and BANJA LUKA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0036SLQGQV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Aleppo's beleaguered Old City, shelled, burned and shot up during years of fighting in Syria's civil war, could be rebuilt with the help of local craftsmen and trainees, according to the United Nations cultural body UNESCO.
There are detailed plans for the Old City's great medieval mosques, souks, bath houses and citadel from an earlier restoration that should allow exact reconstruction, a local UNESCO representative said.
The fighting in Aleppo ended in December when the Syrian army drove out rebels and now gradual efforts are being made to revive the city, one of the oldest in the Middle East. But it needs the skills of Aleppo craftsmen, many of whom left the city during the war, some killed, others departing with the rebels or starting new lives as refugees abroad.
The UNESCO representative said the creation of a school for craftsmen was under consideration an one of the craftsmen who might help set up that school is Mustafa al-Now, a worker in the ornate, painted wood panels, windows, doors and ceilings that adorn old Aleppo houses.
There is precedent for such a historic rebuilding programme. In 2016, the 16th century Ottoman Ferhadija mosque in Banja Luka in Bosnia-Herzegovina reopened, recreated from its original stones 23 years after it was blown up during the war in Bosnia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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