Turkish police teams recover nearly 300 stolen artefacts

Turkey’s anti-smuggling police teams remanded six suspects in operations conducted in Turkey’s Fatih, Kadiköy, Bayrampaşa and Kartal districts in Istanbul. The operations were launched after a month of surveillance and monitoring.

A total of 268 historical artifacts dating back to up to 4,500 years, including the Lidyan and Hellenistic periods were recovered.

All of the seized pieces were handed over to the Istanbul Archeology and Turkish Islamic Museums Directorate for inspection.

Among the artefacts were: 11 gold pieces belonging to the Lydians dated 2,500 BC, archeological treasures from Tunisia and Algeria, a scroll from Sultan Abdulmejid’s period written in ancient Greek, belongings of the royal family from the Greek period dated 2,200 years old, valuable gems and archeological treasures from Jordan and Syria, and boilers, trays and shields of various sultans’ sons from the Seljuk, Mamluk and Ottoman periods.