Ancient irrigation channel eyes UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Preparations have begun for the 3,000-year-old Şamran Irrigation Channel, which was built during the Urartu Kingdom period and is considered a world water engineering wonder, in the eastern province of Van to be included on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

The channel, which is 51 kilometers long, was built to bring water to the city center upon the order of the Urartian King Menua, who ruled from 810-785 B.C.

It is one of the most important Urartian architectural works that remained intact.

A road along the channel was also introduced to tourists and used for bike tours or various other activities within the scope of the Urartian Development Corridor project prepared by the municipality Edremit, a district of Van.

Edremit Mayor İsmail Say pointed out the importance of the historical Şamran Canal and said that such a wonderful building should be included in the heritage list.

"We cycle around the historical channel with bicycles every year in the region as part of the European Mobility Week. We are the only municipality in eastern Anatolia to have projects on this week," Say said.

"Now, we have started the process of taking this 3,000-year-old historical channel into the UNESCO World Heritage List. Good luck to our Edremit and our region," he added.