Eastern fairy chimneys dream of UNESCO

ERZURUM - Anadolu Agency

Erzurum’s Narman is seeking to develop as a tourist area, and gain a place in the UNESCO World Heritages list.

The Narman Fairy Chimneys in the Narman province of Erzurum, are notable for their resemblance to the Cappadocia region, which is famous for its fairy chimneys, and has been named the Cappadocia of the east of Turkey. Now Narman is seeking to develop as a tourist area, and gain a place in the UNESCO World Heritages list.

Professor Metin Turan, an academic in the Architecture and Genetic Engineering Faculties of Yeditepe University, stated that they had studied the flora and fauna of the Narman Fairy Chimneys during his work in the Atatürk Vocational School and he added that their studies were continuing in order to expose the natural and cultural specialties of the area. They are planning to transfer the cultural heritage to the younger generations by introducing the archeological, ecological, ethnographical and historical information.

“Geo-parks are considered to be esthetic areas that are rarely found in the world. There are 78 geo-parks connected to UNESCO throughout the world, on the other hand we have no such kind of area in our country. Our primary aim is the Narman Fairy Chimneys. Usually these kinds of formations are found in the volcanic areas; in this case these chimneys are formed on pebble stones and sand stones which is one of the specialties of the area. These are from 3 million years ago and formed by the removed and transported materials. The red color, which is caused by ferric oxide, the main material, is particularly striking. There are no other examples of this in the world caused by the same main materials. Therefore the fairy chimneys could become a geo-park that is counted by UNESCO.” stated Turan.

Geologic inventories

The size of the area is 65 square kilometers and there are more than 70 geologic inventories in the valley. Turan reminded that there had been many studies carried out about the nature and geology of the area and added, “There are 20 to 30 areas with this concept in our country. The superiority of our area is that we have completed the infrastructure works. Therefore this area is added to the list which includes the candidates to the UNESCO, in the meeting we had with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. When we look to the other countries such as Greece, Germany, France and Ireland have geo-parks announced in the list of UNESCO. In this case a different specialty of the area is important. Our aim is to attract the tourists coming to our area by combining the geological areas together in the provinces of Erzurum such as Narman, Uzundere and Köprüköy.”

Turan emphasized that the area should be considered as a “Nature Monument” and said, “UNESCO states that in order to count this area as a geo-park the state should accept the area. The superiority of this place to the other candidates is that we have completed the infrastructural works of the area. The only things left are the organization, management and the museum building in the area. After completing all these, I hope we will be in the UNESCO list. As a country we should act in this way about the special areas. These conscious steps would bring our country to where it should be and make it known for its natural beauties worldwide.”