Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced that the Quran written in the 16th century by Mustafa Dede, son of the famous calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah who founded the Ottoman calligraphy tradition, and illegally taken out of Türkiye and offered for sale in England in 2017, has been returned to its homeland.
Minister Ersoy, in a statement on his social media account regarding the matter, included the phrase "We have good news before the Night of Power, better than a thousand months," and noted the following:
"The Quran, which was illegally taken out of Türkiye and offered for sale in England in 2017, has been returned to our country. We will exhibit the Quran, transcribed by Mustafa Dede, the son of calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah and the founder of the Ottoman calligraphy tradition, at our Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum.
This Quran, written at the beginning of the 16th century, draws attention with its technique of pasting written sections onto a different paper, which we define in calligraphy as 'vassale.' I sincerely thank everyone and all institutions involved in the meticulous process that led to the return of this Quran to our country. I invite everyone to our Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum to see many valuable works like this Quran. May our Night of Power be blessed."
