Turkish police seize ancient manuscript stolen from Syrian museum

KIRŞEHİR – Anadolu Agency

Turkish police have recovered an ancient leather manuscript from suspected antiquities traffickers in a Central Anatolian province, security sources said on March 12.

The manuscript, thought to have been stolen from a Syrian museum, was seized in Kırşehir.

Acting on a tip, police squads stopped a suspected car with an Istanbul license plate on the Ankara-Kayseri highway near the Kaman district of Kırşehir.

They found the manuscript hidden in a rug near the car seat, said the sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The 16-page ancient book written in Hebrew bore different bird figures, a hexagonal shape and a red stone on the cover page.

During the police search, a blank firing gun and cartridges in the glove box of the car were also seized, the sources said.

Two suspects in the car, identified only by their initials, E.S and K.G., were arrested for antiquities trafficking charges.

According to suspects’ testimonies to the police, they bought the manuscript in the southeastern Mardin province and were planning to sell it in Istanbul for a large sum of money.

The ancient manuscript was stolen from a Syrian city’s museum during the war and was brought to Mardin illegally, the suspects said in their testimonies.