UNESCO to decide on Mangistau Underground Mosques in July 2026
In July 2026, the UNESCO is set to make a decision on inscription of the Mangistau Underground Mosques on the World Heritage List, Kazinform News Agency reports.
In line with the President’s directive set at the 3rd session of the National Kurultai, stage-by-stage efforts are underway to nominate the Ustyurt Plateau and the Mangistau Underground Moscques, according to Yerlan Karin, State Counselor of Kazakhstan.
“From September 17 to 24, an expert mission of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) conducted a comprehensive survey of this historical and cultural site. Representatives of local and central government agencies, specialists in archeology and restoration were involved in this work. The expertise focused on the preservation and conservation issues, determining the boundaries and buffer zones of the underground mosques, as well as sustainable management and tourism infrastructure development,” Yerlan Karin posted on his Telegram account.
According to him, the ICOMOS will prepare an expert report with a technical assessment of the Underground Mosques of the Mangistau Peninsula nomination for its further inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The final decision on the site will be announced at a meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in July 2026.
In addition, the State Counselor noted that UNESCO World Heritage Centre had launched the process of reviewing the project for the CIS' first ever joint nomination – Ustyurt Plateau.
Earlier it was reported that on September 24 in Paris, Kazakh Culture and Information Minister Aida Balayeva met with Ernesto Ottone, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture. Minister Balayeva presented the nomination dossier for the mixed heritage site titled “Ustyurt: Landscapes and Hunting Traps (Arans)”. The dossier was submitted by the Ministry for preliminary assessment by the World Heritage Center to inscribe the site in the UNESCO World Heritage List.