55 smuggled Iranian artifacts returned from Türkiye
TEHRAN – A collection of 55 Iranian artifacts has recently been returned home from Türkiye after months of being handed over to the country’s consulate in Erzurum.
In early June 2024, Türkiye returned those historical artifacts of Iranian origin that were smuggled illegally into the country.
The Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts has now confirmed that these artifacts were transferred to Iran in late January 2025, ISNA reported on Saturday.
With coordination from the Ministry’s General Directorate of Museums and support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the artifacts entered Iran via a land border and were delivered to the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Directorate of West Azarbaijan province, the report said.
Turkish authorities had seized these artifacts in Erzurum. After experts confirmed that some of these objects belonged to Iranian heritage, Tehran formally requested their return under the 1970 UNESCO Convention and the bilateral agreement between Türkiye and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Back in June, Director General of Cultural Heritage and Museums Birol Incecikoz said Türkiye has been carrying out comprehensive work on artifact smuggling. “We have become one of the rule-making countries in the world in terms of returning illegally smuggled artifacts to our country. As a country, we claim that every cultural artifact is the jewel of the country it belongs to. It must be exhibited in the country where it belongs, it must belong to that land,” he said. “As a result of these policies, today we have come together to hand over to the Republic of Iran the artifacts that we have proven to belong to the Iranian side.”.
Incecikoz indicated that the items include a Sasanian sword, 42 coins, a bronze jug and 11 artifacts from the Bronze Age and Islamic eras.
AM