In 1985, the Historic Peninsula of Istanbul (specifically the areas of Zeyrek, Süleymaniye, the City Walls, and Sultanahmet) was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
However, when local governments and official authorities failed to meet the necessary conditions required by this status or were insufficient in doing so, UNESCO issued a warning to the relevant local administrations concerning the neglect and destruction of traditional wooden architecture. In this warning, it was stated that if the necessary measures were not taken, Istanbul could be placed on the “List of World Heritage in Danger.”
Faced with such a threat, in 2003 the Cultural Awareness Foundation brought together twelve non-governmental organizations, including Chamber of Architects, Istanbul Bar Association, ICOMOS, IKSV, ÇEKÜL, and others to form a Monitoring Committee and ran its secretariat for 6 years. The main aim of this platform was to maintain communication with UNESCO and to determine, through mutual understanding, the necessary measures to prevent Istanbul from being removed from the World Heritage List — and to ensure that local authorities implement these measures without delay. The Istanbul Cultural Heritage Monitoring Committee under CAF secretariat, organized several meetings with the Ministry of Culture and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. These efforts culminated in a national-level meeting attended by 34 NGOs, during which the issues were discussed and various proposed solutions were documented.
Through this and subsequent efforts, the Historic Peninsula remained on the World Cultural Heritage List. Later, CAF took part in the Advisory and Executive Committees of the European Capital of Culture initiative. Istanbul was declared the European Capital of Culture in 2010.