Türkiye Receives 1,055 Coins Returned From Greece
By Bosphorus News Life Desk
Türkiye has received 1,055 coins returned from Greece after authorities determined that the artifacts had been taken out of the country illegally.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the return during the first Türkiye-Greece Culture Forum in Cappadocia, where he appeared with Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni. The two ministers also held a bilateral meeting before joining the forum sessions.
Ersoy said cultural property smuggling was one of the fields where Türkiye and Greece had developed concrete cooperation. He pointed to the protocol signed between the two countries in 2013 and the 1970 UNESCO Convention as the legal ground for joint work against illicit trafficking.
"The fight against cultural property smuggling is one of the important areas where Türkiye and Greece have developed concrete cooperation," Ersoy said, adding that the two countries had a strong legal basis in this field.
Ersoy said the coins had been seized by Greek authorities last year and were returned to Türkiye after they were found to have been removed from the country illegally. He described the return as a concrete result of the two countries' shared will in the field of cultural heritage protection.
The forum also produced a new cultural cooperation step. Ersoy and Mendoni signed a joint declaration on enhanced cooperation in the field of culture, aimed at strengthening cultural relations, protecting shared heritage and supporting institutional dialogue.
Ersoy also highlighted Türkiye's support for Greece on the Parthenon Sculptures issue in relevant UNESCO committee meetings, saying Ankara's position reflected the importance it gives to protecting cultural assets together with their historical and cultural context.
The return from Greece fits a wider cultural heritage track followed by Bosphorus News. New York previously returned 43 antiquities to Türkiye, while a separate case in Canada showed how court rulings can support repatriation efforts for artifacts removed from Türkiye. Bosphorus News also covered Canada's return of artifacts to Türkiye and the handover of an angel statue to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul, cases that show how heritage policy is moving through legal channels, diplomacy and symbolic cultural gestures at the same time.
***Source: Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism, June 4, 2026