A symposium in Raqqa entitled "Together to protect the Syrian heritage"

The Culture and Antiquities Board in north and east of Syria held a scientific dialogue symposium on Thursday under the slogan “Together to protect the Syrian heritage”, about the reality of the Syrian heritage during the crisis, the symposium was attended by a group of intellectuals, historians and representatives of the Autonomous Administration at the cultural center in the city of Raqqa. 
During the meeting, the deputy of co-chair of Executive Committee of North and East of Syria, delivered a speech in which he stressed on Syria’s richness in archaeological sites, which amount to more than ten thousand archaeological sites and hills, many of which were destroyed during the Syrian crisis, in addition to the neglect of the Syrian government of the archaeological sites, which led to their loss.
Some of the participants lectured during the seminar, first of which was the researcher in the affairs of antiquities and former director of Raqqa Museum, Muhammad Ezzo, head of the Department of Antiquities in Hasakah Khaled Ahmo, and the member of the Directorate of Antiquities in Afrin Salah Sino who confirmed that, the mankind has suffered the scourge of war through the ages and extended to the cultural and civilizational heritage. Sino stressed that, armed conflicts are the most dangerous and destructive which lead to the destruction of peoples’ cultural heritage.
While former director of antiquities and museums in Deir ez-Zor, Yasser al-Shohan said that the looting cultural property is one of the oldest forms of transnational organized crime and has become a worldwide phenomenon. Smuggling cultural heritage is still a disaster which hits the heritage of countries around the world. 
For his part, Dr. Anwar al-Mushrref, an advisor to the Autonomous Administration said that, “Raqqa is one of the most Syrian cities which has been subjected to terrorist offensives represented by ISIS which fought arts and heritage”.
“After liberating the city of Raqqa from ISIS, the Autonomous Administration put heritage and arts at the top of its priorities by opening cultural centers and museums in all of the cities”, he said.
The co-chair of Raqqa Civil Council, Mishleb al-Darwish summarized the nature of the historical link between antiquities and the Syrian people by saying: “People of Raqqa are a homogeneous people in all their spectrums”.
In turn, the co-head of the Archaeological Office in Raqqa, Abdul Ghafour al-Khalaf emphasized on the history of Raqqa, saying: “Raqqa is one of the oldest cities in history, with evidence of the discovery of the ancient city of Mureibet, which dates back to 8,500 BC, which confirms the ancientness of this city and its historical roots”.