For some months now, Turkey has been increasing their efforts to retrieve disputed artefacts held by foreign museums. Now, their Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay is requesting a dialogue with the Louvre over the return of various artefacts held by the French Museum.

From:
Art Daily

Turkey’s Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay wants talks with France on ‘stolen’ antiques
Friday, November 23, 2012

PARIS (AFP).- Turkey wants to start a “dialogue” with French authorities for the return of tiles and other antiquities on display at the Louvre museum in Paris, Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay said Thursday.

Saying the artefacts “were stolen at the end of the 19th century”, Gunay said: “We want talks to start between French authorities and the board controlling Turkish museums to work on the issue and take stock.
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Turkey has been very active in pursuing foreign museums that it claims are illegally holding Turkish artefacts in recent months. Now, there are claims that tiles on display in the Louvre formed part of a mosaic illegally removed from a Turkish Mosque, although it is unclear how & when the pieces were removed from their original setting.

From:
France 24

Latest update: 02/11/2012
Louvre – Paris
Louvre denies Turkish tiles ‘stolen’ from historic mosque

Paris’s world famous Louvre museum denied accusations on Friday that it was exhibiting tiles stolen from Turkey hundreds of years ago, following claims made in a Turkish daily that the tiles were pilfered from a historic mosque.

The Louvre museum in Paris on Friday said there had been no official demand from Ankara to return tiles that a Turkish daily claims were stolen from a historic mosque, adding they had been acquired legally.
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