Since 2018, 7,824 works of art exported by smuggling have been returned to Turkey.
About this Agency “Anadolu” was announced by the General Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museums of Turkey Birol Indjikesz.
According to him, in order to identify the whereabouts and return to Turkey stolen artifacts in the Ministry of Culture, a team of specialists has been formed, which coordinates work with the police and gendarmerie.
The head of the department noted that the whereabouts of artifacts illegally exported abroad is monitored with detective meticulousness, close cooperation with a number of countries with which Turkey signed a protocol.
In addition, special seminars are organized for citizens at which they are explained by the importance of protecting the cultural heritage, they tell about criminal liability for the sale of artifacts, says Indjikeses.
“Turkey has become a model for imitation in terms of organizing the process of returning to the returned by smuggling by artifacts. We already establish the rules. We already have technologies, knowledge and experience in order to prove this artifact by grains of the Earth on the artifact that this artifact was exported by smuggling from our our goal for the future is to return all artifacts that have been exported to smuggling, ”he stressed.
Indjikesza said that in recent years, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey has been implementing important projects aimed at popularizing museums and the country’s cultural and historical heritage.
“If in 2002 there were only 183 museums in our country, then as of May 2024 their number increased to 214. During this time, 169 museums were restored and restored,” he said.
Indjikeses believes that after taking office of the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey Mehmet Nuri Erosia in 2018, “Museums received new breath” and cited an example of such an innovation as visiting Turkish museums at night, which contributed to the growth of tourist flow in the district concentrations of historical and cultural objects.
As part of the project, at the first stage, night lighting was installed in the territory of ancient cities of Side, Ephesus and Hierapol, due to which the number of visitors increased by 47 percent compared to last year. He added that the plans to establish lighting on other historical and cultural objects in the country.