Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that in the last eight years, Turkey had ensured the return of more than 9,000 cultural assets. Speaking at the launch event of the “ICOM Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk: Turkey,” held at a hotel in Bodrum, Muğla, Minister Ersoy emphasized that this achievement had been made possible through strong international collaborations and agreements signed with different countries.
Ersoy pointed out that cultural property smuggling was an organized crime that detached artifacts from their context and destroyed valuable scientific data. He further noted that such smuggling was linked to national security and had been identified by the United Nations Security Council as a tool for financing terrorism.
“Turkey continues this fight both nationally—through our police, gendarmerie, and customs units—and globally through international partnerships,” Ersoy said. “One of the main fronts in this struggle is ensuring the repatriation of artifacts smuggled abroad, and we have achieved remarkable success in this field. In the past eight years, more than 9,000 of our cultural properties have been returned. Our bilateral agreements have made a significant difference in this regard. Thanks to our close cooperation with the United States, many artifacts, including the Marcus Aurelius statue, have been brought back home. Similarly, in June this year, through the diligent work of Swiss authorities, we secured the return of seven historical artifacts found in Switzerland. We will also introduce these pieces today,” he added.
Minister Ersoy concluded by highlighting that while Turkey worked tirelessly to recover its cultural assets from abroad, it also cooperated constructively to return artifacts discovered within its borders to their rightful origins when their provenance was scientifically verified.
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