Turkish museum loses over 200 works of art

ISTANBUL

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Over 200 works of art are presently missing from Ankara’s State Art and Sculpture Museum, a report by the Culture and Tourism Ministry has said.

The report, which was later shelved away from public view to avoid a possible backlash, claims that 46 pieces of the museum's catalog was stolen and replaced with fake replicas, daily Milliyet reported.
 
The authenticity of 30 more art works is also "highly suspicious," according to the report.
 
Some 202 art works, now "missing,” are priceless works of art belonging to Turkish artists such as Şevket Dağ, Şefik Bursalu, Hikmet Onat and Zühtü Müridoğlu, among many others.
 
A commission was assigned to conduct a thorough inventory of the museum's catalog in 2010 following the theft of 13 pieces of art belonging to Hoca Ali Rıza. The report, however, was not publicized for fear of invoking a strong reaction.
 
The museum was founded in 1980 by Turkish President Fahri Korutürk.