[CPProt.net] Stepping into the murky world of the art thieves

[Ton Cremers]

Stepping into the murky world of the art thieves
By Jean Christou
Jan. 15, 2006

THE destruction of the cultural heritage in the north of the island following the Turkish 
invasion has been documented on and off in the past, but a new book by journalist and 
author Michael Jansen brings to life the realities of the murky and dangerous world of 
international art theft.

Central to Jansen´s book, War and Cultural Heritage, is a Turk, Aydin Dikmen, who is 
described at the "most active and influential operator" in that world. There is also a large 
focus on the recovery of the Kanakaria Mosacis.

According to Jansen, Dikmen developed an interest in archaeology and became a collector 
of illegal artefacts in the 1960s. He was also a known drug smuggler.

"Interpol and national police forces have long made the connection between drugs and art 
crime," said Jansen. "Stolen art moves along routes used by drugs smugglers."

She said that by the time Dikmen met dealer Michel van Rijn, a Dutchman who was 
eventually instrumental in recovering many Cypriot antiquities, the Turk was a major source 
of icons on the international stolen art market.

He lived in the Turkish quarter of Munich. That was in 1972 and Van Rijn discovered that 
Dikmen was stashing hundreds of pieces of Byzantine art inside the walls of his apartment. 
The two had a turbulent relationship over the next 25 years, until Van Rijn began helping the 
Cyprus government and the Church regain some of its lost treasures.

The 1974 invasion gave Dikmen a free rein to plunder the cultural heritage in the north and 
he became known as the principal source of Cypriot antiquities and icons on the black 
market.

However, the massive flow on to the market eventually produced a glut, and sales were slow. 
Jansen said that Robin Cormack of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London called the mid 
seventies "the bargain basement of history". Many of the items looted by Dikmen became 
unsellable, and a campaign launched by the Cyprus government made buyers wary, which 
also drove down prices.

In November 1979 the Kanakaria Mosacis were reported stolen in the north. The priceless 
treasures ended up in the hands of American gallery owner Peg Goldberg via Von Rijn in the 
mid eighties. He had got them from Dikmen.

In March 1989, Cyprus filed a suit against Goldberg. "Peg´s lawyers were compelled to enter 
the murky world of antiquities traffickers," said Jansen. "It should have become apparent to 
them from the outset that she had thrust herself into the black market without any notion of 
the rules of the game." She lost the case in 1991 and the icons were returned to Cyprus 
shortly afterwards. But Dikmen was still on the loose.
In 1997 Van Rijn approached the Cypriot authorities with an offer to act as in intermediary to 
buy back three mosaics and 44 frescoes in exchange for protection for his family from a 
vengeful Dikmen.

A sting operation was set up involving the German police in November that year, and Dikmen 
was finally nailed after 4,000 pieces, including 330 Byzantine works from Cyprus, were found 
hidden inside the wall of an apartment in Munich. "It was in Van Rijn´s estimation the largest 
haul of stolen art since World War II."

Diken went to jail but was released a year later after his trial was postponed. After nearly six 
years of debate on how to recover the items, then Attorney-general Solon Nikitas went to 
Munich to recover the items and in March 2004 Cyprus filed a civil suit in a German court.

"The prospects for the repatriation of Dikmen´s Cypriot horde are not at all certain," said 
Jansen.

Speaking at the official launch of the book on Monday, Jansen said that unfortunately 
countries receiving stolen cultural property, mostly rich Western democracies, did not abide 
by international agreements banning the trade and did not have stringent national laws 
barring the acquisition of such property. 

She said the only way to halt the black market trade was for countries to enforce international 
and national instruments prohibiting this enterprise, and for governments to punish individual 
dealers and purchasers, as well as museums and institutions, which receive stolen cultural 
property.

"If there is no market, the trade will cease.  If the trade is halted, archaeologists will be much 
better placed to reconstruct the story of mankind," she said.

Jansen said that since the acquisition of stolen art was now hitting the headlines in the US 
and Europe, Cyprus should launch its own campaign to recover post-1974 loot. 

"The first step would be to publicise the refusal of Germany to hand over the hoard in Munich 
of hundreds of Cypriot artefacts seized in 1997 by the city´s police in raids on Dikmen´s home 
and offices.  It is a crime that eight years have gone by without the repatriation of these 
pieces.  As a result of the delay, both Dikmen and Turkey, as the occupying power, have laid 
claim to the collection, which includes artefacts, which are well documented as belonging to 
Cyprus."
 
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/