ARTS-CULTURE 0

Ankara holds ceremony after return of archaeological artifacts

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency | 3/31/2011 12:00:00 AM |

Officials in Ankara have held a ceremony following the return of archaeological artifacts that had previously been smuggled out of Anatolia to Serbia.

Officials in Ankara have held a ceremony following the return of archaeological artifacts that had previously been smuggled out of Anatolia to Serbia.

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay attended the ceremony at his ministry's opera building on the occasion of the return of 1,865 artifacts that had been illegally transported to Serbia, as well as 17 others that had been taken to Britain.

Günay said his ministry attached great importance to culture and arts, especially archaeology.

The minister said Turkey had brought back 3,609 historical artifacts between 2007 and 2011.

The 1,865 archaeological artifacts dating to the Roman and Byzantine eras were confiscated at the Batrovci border crossing between Serbia and Croatia in 2004. The artifacts were handed over to Turkey on Feb. 25, 2011, as a result of work undertaken by the Turkish ministry.