As part of their ongoing campaign for the restitution of looted artefacts, Turkey has written to the British Museum asking for the return of the Samsat Stele, a stone tablet that is over two thousand years old.

From:
Today’s Zaman

Turkey requests return of Samsat Stele from Britain
9 April 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

The Turkish government has requested from Britain the return of a stone tablet dating back to the first century.

The Samsat Stele, which is currently held at the British Museum, is a stone tablet dating back to the first century B.C. portraying Commagenian King Antiochos I Epiphanes greeting Greek god Zeus’s son Herakles. The hole in the center of the Samat Stele, which is made of basalt, reflects its later use as an oil press.
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Robbing the contents of tombs has been going on for as long as items of value have been enclosed in the tombs. Robbing the actual tombs themselves was not something that happened until the arrival of the English aristocracy in the nineteenth century.

From:
Today’s Zaman

[Digging up Turkey’s past] Tomb Raider: Charles Fellows in Lycia
27 January 2010, Wednesday
TERRY RICHARDSON ANTALYA

Robbing graves is a crime almost as old as the practice that unwittingly encouraged it — the burial of the dead with valuable objects. Gold death masks and other precious items proved too much of a temptation for unscrupulous “get rich quick” thieves in ancient Egypt, who tunneled their way into pyramid tombs in search of forbidden treasures.

Roman and Byzantine tombs were pillaged for their grave goods, and the “art” of grave robbing goes back over 2,000 years in China. Today, professional “tomb raiders” around the globe loot the burial places of past civilizations, from the graves of North American Indians to the tombs of ancient Chinese notables, and the international art market appears ever hungry for such antiquities, no matter how ill-gotten.
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More coverage in Turkey of their Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s planned attendance at the opening of the New Acropolis Museum in June. Turkey has in the past also requested the return of numerous items held in the British Museum, so in many ways this is an area of common ground & belief for both countries.

From:
Today’s Zaman

Erdoğan, Davutoğlu to visit Greece
26 May 2009, Tuesday
MUSA TAŞPINAR ANKARA

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, which will take place on June 20, sources from the Prime Ministry said yesterday. Erdoğan is expected to have bilateral talks with his Greek counterpart, Costas Karamanlis, while in the Greek capital, the same sources noted.

Also next month, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will travel to the island of Corfu, Greece. Davutoğlu will participate in a two-day informal meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which will focus on the OSCE’s role and security in Europe on June 27-28.
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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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The town of Datça in Turkey is asking for the return of the Knidos Lion & a statue of Demeter, artefacts from the area currently in the British Museum. This request follows on from others that Turkey has made in the past for artefacts that have been taken from the countries ancient sites.

From:
Today’s Zaman
23 October 2008, Thursday

Datça to seek return of ancient sculptures
The town of Datça, in Muğla province, is planning to apply to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the return of a sculpture known as the “Knidos Lion” and a statue of Demeter. The pieces are currently being exhibited at the British Museum in London.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, the mayor of Datça, Erol Karakullukçu, said they want to take back the carvings, which were found in the ancient city of Knidos near Datça and that they will petition the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for their return. Karakullukçu said, “In order to keep the public aware that these sculptures were made in Datça thousands of years ago, and that they were taken to be exhibited in Britain, we made marble replicas of the original sculptures and exhibit them at the city park.”
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