Over the past 20 years, Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has facilitated the return of more than 12,150 artifacts, with the majority being repatriated from the United States.
As part of the Antalya Culture Route Festival, Zeynep Boz, Head of the Anti-Smuggling Department at the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, highlighted the department’s dual role: managing artifact returns and representing Turkey at UNESCO and other relevant UN bodies.
Boz emphasized the importance of education and awareness in combatting smuggling, stating, “We are the only country in the world with a dedicated education and awareness branch under an anti-smuggling department. It’s impossible to combat this crime effectively without explaining why cultural heritage must be preserved. Once people understand how this relates to issues like the financing of terrorism or potential harm to our international relations, they adopt a more careful approach and support our protection efforts.”
She also noted significant collaborations with security forces, citing impactful operations such as Anadolu, Miras, and Define, led by the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (KOM). These large-scale operations have gained global recognition, resulting in the seizure of thousands of artifacts, the capture of key suspects sought for years, and the dismantling of smuggling networks.
Thousands of Artifacts Returned Over Two Decades
Boz highlighted the achievements in combating smuggling:
– Over the last 20 years, more than 12,150 artifacts have been returned to Turkey, with 7,850 of these restitutions occurring in the past five years.
– The United States has been a major contributor to recent returns due to a bilateral agreement that has significantly boosted cooperation.
“When a country is willing to collaborate and adopts a state policy against this wrongdoing, the number of returns increases. We see a similar positive example with Switzerland. We hope that more countries will focus on this issue and support us in correcting these past mistakes by returning our artifacts,” Boz concluded.
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