Canada has returned 11 pages of ancient manuscripts to Turkey, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said in a post to X/Twitter last week, marking the first repatriation of its kind between the two countries.
According to Ersoy, seven of the pages date to between the 17th-19th centuries, two are from rare printed works, and two are pages of modern calligraphy.
“This repatriation also carries significant weight as a strong international precedent,” he wrote in his post. “We are tracing every artifact unlawfully taken from these lands and reclaiming them one by one.”
He added that the pages were handed over in Ottawa after a lengthy process started by the Canada Border Services Agency and permission granted by Canada’s federal court.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our teams at the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Manuscript Institution of Turkey, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, our Embassy in Ottawa, and everyone else who contributed to successfully completing this process,” Ersoy concluded.
Portugal returns stolen Mayan, Zapotec artifacts to Mexico
In a similar ceremony in February, Portugal returned three stolen archaeological artifacts to Mexico through the country’s Lisbon embassy, marking the first archaeological restitution to Mexico ever made by the European country.
“This return confirms that international cooperation protects who we are,” Mexican Culture Minister Claudia Curiel de Icaza said. “Each restitution restores memory and identity to Mexico and reaffirms the shared commitment against the trafficking of cultural property.”