Türkiye to reclaim over 8,600 smuggled artifacts

ISTANBUL

Turkish authorities have orchestrated the return of 12,135 smuggled historical artifacts over the past 22 years, with the country gearing up to welcome back more than 8,600 cultural treasures in the upcoming period.

In the pursuit of repatriating illicitly trafficked cultural artifacts, Türkiye has ardently engaged in legal and diplomatic endeavors to bring back its historical treasures that were clandestinely smuggled abroad throughout various epochs.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry’s teams meticulously scan museums, galleries, auction houses and other sources worldwide to identify pilfered cultural assets.

Recently, Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced that 8,659 artifacts seized in France will soon be returned, adding that this process stemmed from the detection of numerous Anatolian-origin coins auctioned by a firm in Austria in 2019.

Cultural heritage trafficking traditionally follows a route towards Western Europe and North America, where art and cultural artifact collection and commerce thrive. Illegally removed from Türkiye, these artifacts are predominantly traced to countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States.

Efforts for the repatriation of identified illicit items to Türkiye are coordinated by several ministries including culture and tourism, foreign, justice and interior. Negotiation and dialogue are initially preferred for repatriation, followed by diplomatic and legal interventions if necessary.

According to the Culture and Tourism ministry data, between 2002 and 2024, 12,135 artifacts have been repatriated to Türkiye, including 17 pieces this year from France, the U.K., Italy, Germany and Switzerland, among them a bronze imperial statue and a terracotta vase from the Roman era.

It is legally forbidden to export domestically protected cultural and natural assets, except for temporary exhibitions. Violators can face imprisonment ranging from five to 12 years and a judicial fine of up to 5,000 days.

Lastly, a Quran written in the early 16th century that was put up for sale in the U.K. in 2017, has returned to its homeland. One of the missing pieces of the Sidamara Sarcophagus, dating back to the 250s A.D., was obtained from England in 2022.

Symbolizing abundance and fertility in prehistoric times, the "mother goddess" Kybele statue, taken from Türkiye to Israel in the 1960s, was also reclaimed from the United States in 2020, marking a return to its homeland after 60 years.