Some 7,701 artifacts returned to Türkiye since 2018

ISTANBUL

While efforts to trace and identify cultural artifacts smuggled abroad through illegal excavations and illegal means continue, a total of 7,701 cultural assets have been returned to the country since 2018, in which 2,956 of them returned in 2023.

The teams of the Anti-Smuggling Department of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Culture and Tourism Ministry continue their efforts to trace and identify artifacts smuggled abroad through illicit excavations and illegal means.

In this initiative, experts of the ministry regularly scan museums, galleries, auction houses, direct sales transactions and other sources around the world and carry out meticulous studies to identify smuggled cultural assets.

Initiatives for the repatriation of illegally identified assets are carried out under the coordination of the Culture and Tourism, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Interior ministries.

While negotiation and dialogue methods are preferred during the process, if no results are obtained, diplomatic and legal initiatives are taken for the artifacts that have been subject to smuggling of cultural property, which is a serious crime.

According to the data obtained from the ministry, a total of 7,701 cultural assets have returned home since 2018.

In 2022, 1,138 artefacts were returned from the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany and Croatia, while Italy, the U.S. and Bulgaria returned 2,956 cultural assets in 2023.

Many valuable artifacts such as a 4,250-year-old golden beak-mouthed jug, a manuscript stolen from Yusuf Ağa Library, the Sarcophagus of Heracles, and a Kilia-type idol dating back to 5,000 B.C. were returned.

The bronze statue of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus, which was found in the possession of a U.S. collector, was also returned in 2022. The statue of Verus stands out as one of the rare human-sized bronze statues that have survived to the present day.

In addition, the statue of the mother-goddess Kybele, believed to be the symbol and protector of abundance and fertility in prehistoric times, was also among the artifacts received from the United States.