37 ancient artifacts handed over to Ankara's Anatolian Civilizations Museum
6,000-year-old Kusura-style idol is oldest of them, smuggled into Switzerland and returned to Türkiye on Wednesday in ceremony at Turkish embassy in Bern
Residents try to collect their usable belongings as search and rescue operation continue amid rubble and destroyed buildings after Israeli airstrikes continue on the seventh day in Rafah, Gaza on October 13, 2023. ( Abed Rahim Khatib - Anadolu Agency )
ANKARA
Thirty-seven ancient artifacts, smuggled into Switzerland and returned to Türkiye two days ago, were handed over to a Turkish museum in the capital Ankara on Friday.
After transporting the historical artifacts to Esenboga Airport, Turkish authorities received them and then handed them over to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.
Earlier on Wednesday, a ceremony was held to mark the return of the ancient artifacts to the Turkish Embassy in Bern, with Swiss officials present.
The artifacts are mainly bronzes from the Kingdom of Urartu, which ruled lands centered on modern-day eastern Türkiye between the 9th and 7th centuries BC.
A 6,000-year-old Kusura-style idol is the oldest of the 37 artifacts.
The return of the artifacts occurred under a bilateral agreement signed on Nov. 15 last year that aims to prevent the illicit transfer, import, and repatriation of cultural properties.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan
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