A team of Turkish and German historians will investigate the provenance of the items recovered at the archaeological sites at Zincirlihöyük, Didim, and Samarra as part of a project launched by state museums in Berlin for the return of stolen historical relics.
The focus of the study will be on whether the excavation of historical objects from various geographies displayed in Berlin museums or their entry into Germany constitutes criminality.
The pilot project, which involves Turkish and German scholars, will first look at the origin of artifacts found at archaeological sites in Iraq and the former Ottoman Empire's Samarra, Didim in the southwest and Zincirlihöyük in the southeast.
Return mechanisms will be used between the nations if investigation reveals that the excavation effort was illegal or it is determined that historical relics were smuggled.
It was also stressed that this endeavor might open the door for the return of numerous historical treasures that have been smuggled out of Turkey.
German origin studies have thus far concentrated on colonial-era artifacts and purchases that may have been looted by the Nazis.
Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, said during a news conference in Berlin that "visitors increasingly want to know where objects came from."
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, foreign teams were frequently awarded excavation licenses that contained agreements outlining how found objects would be shared between the host nation and the visiting archaeologists.
However, Christina Haak, the deputy director of the Berlin State Museums, claimed that these agreements are frequently broken and that illegal actions were utilized to obtain the findings.
According to Haak, the three archaeological sites whose artifacts are the subject of the pilot project are situated in the Ottoman Empire.
The classical antiquities collection's deputy director, Martin Maischberger, stated that some dubious instances need more investigation.
According to Maischberger, the 8,000 pictures in the Berlin archives hold important information regarding how unearthed artefacts were treated.
A display covering the future period of archaeological cooperation between Germany and the Ottoman Empire is also being prepared by the institutions.
The Pergamon Altar is one of the most significant pieces of art in Berlin that was illegally exported from Turkish land.
The Pergamon Altar, which was smuggled from Turkey to Prussia in the 1870s and is currently on exhibit in Berlin, has been missing for many years, and the Turkish government has been working to have it returned.
The altar could be able to go back to its original location thanks to this project.
