The repatriation of several stolen artifacts from the U.S. has been completed, including a bronze emperor statue from the ancient city of Boubon, a marble head of Demosthenes and terracotta tablets originating from Düver, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced recently.
In a statement on social media, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said: “The missing emperor of Boubon is returning to our country. The return of the bronze emperor statue, taken from the ancient city of Boubon in Burdur, was secured through international cooperation and persistent legal pursuit. This process is one of the best examples of our active global efforts and international collaboration to protect our cultural heritage.”
Ersoy noted that the U.S. collector who had illegally purchased the statue would have faced arrest by a U.S. court if he refused to return it, and by agreeing to repatriate the piece, he avoided imprisonment.
The minister added that, in addition to the emperor statue, a marble head of Demosthenes and Düver-origin terracotta tablets would also return to Türkiye. Two separate ceremonies were held, attended by Deputy Culture Minister Gökhan Yazgı, during which 28 other valuable artifacts previously covered by restitution agreements were also returned.
“Over the past seven years, we have reunited 9,133 cultural properties with the soil of Anatolia,” Ersoy said. “I thank the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Department for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property, who have tracked our artifacts step by step like detectives from day one. We will continue to safeguard our cultural heritage and pursue every artifact belonging to Türkiye, no matter where in the world it may be.”
According to the ministry, the restitution also included the return of a marble column capital depicting Archangel Michael from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Provenance research revealed that the artifact had been illegally removed from the Peribleptos Monastery in Istanbul’s Samatya district.
The 28 other repatriated items, which had completed legal proceedings earlier, were handed over by Deputy Minister Gökhan Yazgı. They include artifacts from Boubon, Archaic-period terracotta tablets from Düver and the marble head of Demosthenes from the Roman era.
The return of the Boubon emperor statue was secured through an investigation by U.S. prosecutors and security agencies. The arrest warrant for collector Aaron Mendelsohn, who purchased the statue, played a key role in ensuring its repatriation to Türkiye.
Throughout the process, the ministry coordinated closely with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, completing all necessary procedures for the statue’s return.
