Turkey a magnet for smugglers of historical artifacts
“Every year, valuable historical artifacts are stolen from Turkey and made part of the collections of various museums around the world.
“According to the ‘Cultural and Natural Assets Smuggling Report’ prepared by the Culture and Tourism Ministry based on figures provided by the Anti-smuggling and Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) of the police department, Turkey sees higher statistics related to the smuggling of historical artifacts every year.
“In 2003 security authorities seized 3,255 historical artifacts that smugglers were attempting to take abroad. With a steady rise over years, this figure rose to 17,936 in 2007. And another new high came in 2008, when authorities seized 42,073 historical artifacts and detained 4,077 suspects in 1,576 operations.”
