[MSN] Thefts at Bolu, Denizli and Eskisehir museums

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Thefts at Bolu, Denizli and Eskisehir museums

 Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koç said on Tuesday thefts were reported from museums in Bolu, Denizli and Eskisehir, noting that the Hygieia statue stolen from Eskisehir Museum in February of this year had been found in Istanbul.

 In answer to a parliamentary question filed by Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) deputy Zübeyir Amber, Koç said there were reports of theft, missing pieces and replacement with fakes at some museums.

 ?On Feb. 26 the Hygieia statute was stolen from Eskisehir Museum. On March 17 the head of Artemis from the Heraclea Hieron Tomb was lifted from Denizli Museum, and on April 25 a statue of Hermes was taken from Bolu Museum. Photos and details of the stolen pieces were sent to all governors' offices, the Interior Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and overseas representations. The Hygieia statue was found in Istanbul in March, and the search for the other two pieces is continuing,?

 Koç said a theft from Usak Museum only came to their attention when archeologist Hakki Alhan from Mugla Museum alerted them.

 An investigation has revealed that a winged seahorse brooch from the Lydian Hoard in the museum was replaced by a fake and that former Usak Museum Director Kazim Akbiyiklioglu was in contact with the suspected thieves. An indictment in the case said: ?Museum Director Kazim Akbiyiklioglu had 259 telephone conversations with the suspects taken into custody for the theft.?

 The embarrassment over the theft in Usak was compounded by the fact that the famed 2,500-year-old collection, known as the Karun Treasure in Turkey, was repatriated only in 1993 after a lengthy legal battle with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art that reportedly cost Turkey $40 million. On July 13 Akbiyiklioglu was arrested, along with nine others, for embezzlement and artifact smuggling and faces 25 years in jail. He was transferred on June 15 to another museum and when arrested, was suspended.

 Koç said the claims made in the media about the Kasikçi Diamond at Topkapi Palace having been replaced with a fake were untrue. A commission had investigated the allegations and had come to the conclusion that the diamond itself with the 49 other diamonds surrounding it were all real.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr