WarSclerotic

“UNESCO has said yes to the Cultural Blue Helmets,” Italian culture minister, Dario Franceschini, said adding that 53 countries alongside UN Security Council members supported the suggestion in the light of the destruction of cultural sites, including Syria’s Palmyra, by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants.

“Faced with IS terrorist attacks and the terrible images of Palmyra, the international community cannot stand back and watch,” Franceschini stressed as quoted by AFP.

According to the minister, potential new UN peacekeeping mission would aim to protect “important sites at risk from terrorist attacks, or in war zones, or zones hit by natural disasters, where the international community will be able to send Cultural Blue Helmets to … defend them before they can be destroyed.”

Franceschini also called on the United Nations to “immediately define the operational aspects of this international task force.”

Italy has been calling for the formation of a “blue helmets of culture” group since late March. At that time, Franceschini said that protecting world’s cultural heritage could not be left to an individual state, stressing that “an international rapid response force” was needed “to defend monuments and archaeological sites in conflict zones.”

In April, UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, urged the Security Council to add the protection of cultural sites to the list of tasks for UN peacekeeping forces.