The President of the Southern Transitional Council, President Aidarous Qassem Al-Zubaidi, chaired on Saturday in the capital, Aden, a joint meeting of the Cultural Committee of the National Assembly of the Transitional Council, and the Cultural Department of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Council.
In the meeting, President Al-Zubaidi welcomed all the attendees, expressing his happiness with this meeting, and their efforts in raising cultural awareness in the south with its various orientations and dimensions.
President Al-Zubaidi stressed that the southern cultural heritage has faced piracy by the enemies of the southern culture, which is what the Yemeni influential forces have been doing, as they did not value the southern cultural dimension in all its manifestations, but rather worked hard to destroy it, in a desire to obliterate the cultural identity of the people of the south, and to change it into another, saying: “With your efforts and the efforts of all southern intellectuals, we will restore our cultural identity again.”
President Al-Zubaidi stressed the need to promote culture in the south, to return to its previous era before invading the south, and to stand on its leading position among Arab identities, noting the keenness on networking between the cultural department in the secretariat and the cultural committee of the National Assembly, so that the work would be joint.
President Al-Zubaidi noted the importance of preserving and codifying the southern heritage and restoring its sites and headquarters that were seized by the forces of Yemeni influence with support of some weak souls individuals, as they turned it into private property and took control on its locations and assets in all regions of the south in general and the capital, Aden in particular.
In turn, the head of the Cultural Committee of the National Assembly, Dr. Abdo Al-Maatari, said that culture is the basis of awareness in all forms of life, and it is the basis of the renewed southern awareness, but today, despite the weight of the negative cultural heritage that the occupying forces were keen to consolidate after the occupation of the south in 1994, we are keen to recall the positive values, and the cultural dimension with all its beautiful values in the southern consciousness.
Al-Maatari stressed that our concern today is to restore all cultural headquarters and historical monuments in the capital, Aden, in coordination with the competent authorities, and we are keen to network with the Cultural Department of the General Secretariat and other parties interested in the southern cultural affairs internally and externally.
For his part, the head of the Cultural Department of the General Secretariat, Amr Al-Eryani, indicated their keenness to return and revive the southern heritage, stressing the importance of the relationship with the Cultural Committee of the National Assembly and other parties interested in the southern cultural affairs, explaining that everyone’s concern is to protect cultural monuments and cultural norms in the life of the people of the south.
Al-Eryani indicated that the department worked through the cultural observer to count historical monuments and archaeological sites, and they reached with the UNESCO Committee for the protection of antiquities, pointing to the need to retrieve folklore and document it, as it needs to hold popular festivals, as well as participate in festivals of peoples that are held in Arab countries and others to highlight the cultural southern heritage.
In conclusion, the attendees put forward to President Al-Zubaidi a number of points about the obstacles to cultural work in the south, in addition to developing a set of proposals that would activate cultural activities and cultural projects.
