Turkey backs Greece on Parthenon Sculptures return
The Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum in London. Photo: AAP/Kirsty Wigglesworth
A major diplomatic breakthrough for Greece’s decades-long campaign to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures has emerged at a recent UNESCO committee session in Paris, with 20 countries from across the globe voicing support for the return of the antiquities to Athens…
As reported by various media outlets, nations including Egypt, Brazil, Italy, China, Cyprus, Nigeria, the Czech Republic, Lebanon and Turkey publicly backed Greece’s position, in what Greek officials described as a significant diplomatic victory.
Particularly striking was the intervention by Turkey, whose representative challenged the long-standing British claim that Lord Elgin legally removed the sculptures from the Parthenon during the Ottoman occupation of Greece in the early 19th century.
Turkey questions legality of Elgin’s removals
At the centre of the dispute is the alleged Ottoman imperial decree, or “firman”, which Britain says authorised Lord Elgin to remove the sculptures from the Acropolis.
However, Zeynep Boz, head of the Turkish Culture Ministry’s anti-smuggling committee, told UNESCO delegates that no such original document has ever been located in Ottoman archives.
“As the successor to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey is the country that would have the archived document pertaining to things that were sold legally at that time,” Boz told Associated Press.
“Historians have for years searched the Ottoman archives and have not been able to find a ‘firman’ proving that the sale was legal, as it is being claimed.”
Boz said she felt compelled to intervene after a British participant repeated claims that the marbles had been lawfully acquired.
“To have remained silent would have amounted to acknowledging the British claim,” she said.
According to Turkish officials, the only surviving reference to the alleged decree is an Italian translation lacking an official signature, seal or Ottoman tughra.
Greece says UNESCO support marks turning point
Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said Turkey’s comments reinforced Greece’s long-standing argument that the sculptures were removed illegally.
“There never was an Ottoman ‘firman’ granting Elgin the permission to treat the Parthenon Sculptures with the brutality with which he did,” Mendoni said.
“The Turkish representative confirmed what the Greek side has been arguing for years.”
Greek officials credited the coordinated efforts of the foreign ministry, culture ministry and the Acropolis Museum for helping secure widespread international backing at UNESCO.
The Acropolis Museum has long maintained a specially designed gallery awaiting the sculptures’ reunification with the surviving sections of the Parthenon in Athens.
British Museum signals openness to compromise
The British Museum responded by acknowledging Greece’s strong desire for the sculptures’ return and expressing interest in finding “innovative ways of working” with Athens.
“The British Museum recognises the strong desire of Greece for the Parthenon Sculptures in London to be returned to Athens,” the museum said in a statement.
It added that it hoped to develop a new “Parthenon partnership” with Greece that could deepen global understanding of the sculptures.
Although British law currently prevents the museum from permanently returning the marbles, discussions between British Museum leaders and Greek officials have intensified in recent years over potential arrangements that could see the sculptures displayed in both London and Athens.
The Parthenon Sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, were removed from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1812 while Greece was under Ottoman rule. Their return has become one of the world’s most prominent cultural restitution campaigns, with Greece arguing the sculptures are an indivisible monument that belongs beside the Parthenon itself.
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