More coverage of Turkey’s requests for the return of artefacts from various museums around the world. These requests form part of a wider cultural plan, to make more of the country’s culture, that includes the planned construction of a huge new museum in Ankara.

From:
Spiegel

07/20/2012
‘Art War’ Turkey Battles to Repatriate Antiquities
By Matthias Schulz

If one were to describe the current mood in Turkey in one word, it would be pride. Once decried as the “sick man of the Bosporus,” the nation has regrouped and emerged as a powerhouse. Turkey’s political importance is growing, and its economy is booming.

In cultural matters, however, Turkey remains a lightweight. To right this deficiency, the government plans to build a 25,000-square-meter (270,000-square-foot) “Museum of the Civilizations” in the capital. “Ankara will proudly accommodate the museum,” boasts Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Günay. “Our dream is the biggest museum in the world.”
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Seeing the successes of other countries such as Egypt & Italy, in recent years, Turkey has become more vociferous in its requests for the return of artefacts by foreign institutions.

From:
Today’s Zaman

03 January 2009
Smuggled Turkish artifacts adorn world museums

A number of historical artifacts originally from Anatolia that were smuggled to foreign countries in the late 1800s and 1900s are now either exhibited in leading museums or auctioned.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry’s General Directorate on Cultural Assets and Museums notes that there are a number of historical works and artifacts smuggled from Turkey and currently based in other countries, including the US, Germany, Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Italy, France, Switzerland, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine and England.
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