Near East: Smuggled amphoras returned to Turkey

According to a written statement released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, two amphoras, which date back to the eighth century and were smuggled to the U.S. at the beginning of the 1950s by William O’Ryan, a U.S. official who had been posted to Turkey, were returned to Turkey by the man’s son, Rick O’Ryan.

Rick O’Ryan, who came to the Washington Culture and Promotion Office, said that he was impressed by Turkey’s recent efforts to repatriate smuggled artifacts and that he wanted to give back the amphoras that his father had brought from Turkey.

The office informed the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Cultural Entities and Museums General Directorate, and ministry officials determined that the amphoras were original ones from the Byzantine period.

Rick O’Ryan handed over the amphoras to officials, who thanked him for his goodwill before sending the artifacts onto the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum Directorate.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [February 26, 2014]