site.btaTurkish Culture Ministry: 8,967 Illegally Exported Artefacts Returned to Country Since 2018

Since 2018, Turkiye has recovered 8,967 artifacts that were illegally exported from the country, Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Tuesday. 

In his statement, Ersoy said that as a result of the diligent work of the anti-smuggling unit of the Cultural Heritage and Museums General Directorate over the past seven years, 8,967 artifacts have been returned “to the lands they belong to.” This was stated in a press release from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism sent to BTA.

Minister Ersoy added that since 2002, a total of 13,282 artifacts have been returned to his country.

"In order to protect our cultural heritage, we will continue to search for every artifact smuggled out of the country," he added.

“In this context, many valuable artifacts were returned to our country as a result of cooperation, legal procedures, and scientific research conducted worldwide,” said Ersoy.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism noted that artifacts have been returned to Turkiye from various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Among the most valuable returned artifacts are mosaic panels that were part of the lost mosaics from the famous "Zeugma" museum in Gaziantep, southern Turkiye.