Istanbul to remain on UNESCO's World Heritage list

UNESCO has decided not to remove Istanbul from the World Heritage List, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday, according to broadcaster NTV's website.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, had been considering whether to remove Istanbul, the 2010 European Capital of Culture, from the World Heritage List and add it to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The Foreign Ministry's statement said the UNESCO resolution confirmed that Istanbul's historical heritage was not under threat.

But the UNESCO resolution also listed its concerns that it wants Turkey to address. Chief among these is the determination by an independent party of whether the construction of a metro crossing over the Golden Horn would damage the image of the historical peninsula.

UNESCO also requested a preliminary evaluation of large-scale infrastructure projects that might negatively affect Istanbul's cultural heritage.

The UNESCO resolution praised a court order stopping the construction of an additional building to a Four Seasons Hotel in Istanbul.