site.btaBulgaria, USA, Italy and Switzerland Return 3,000-Plus Archaeological Artifacts to Turkiye in 2023

In the past year, Turkiye has received back 3,059 artifacts illegally exported from the country, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday. The items were returned to Turkiye from Bulgaria, the United States, Italy and Switzerland.

The Minister said that in 2024, actions to retrieve his country's stolen artifacts will continue.

The items returned by Bulgaria include 2,940 coins dating back to 120-63 B.C. from the era of Mithridates VI Eupator, who ruled the Kingdom of Pontus.

The US returned a bronze statue of Septimius Severus originating from the ancient city of Burdur Bubon and dating from the second or third century AD. Other items retrieved from the US include marble busts of emperors discovered during excavations in Antalya and dating to the third century AD.

A tombstone originating from Gaziantep and dating to the second century AD was returned from Italy. It is dated to the second century AD.

Ersoy also listed bronze containers from the Urartu period (ninth to seventh century BC), parts of a horse harness and a deer figurine from the Roman period.