Istanbul Police Detain 2 For Smuggling Artifacts

Police have detained at least two people during an operation against smugglers of historical artifacts, according to a police source on Friday.



Simultaneous raids were launched at various locations over the last week after police units from the Department of Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime received a tip-off, the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.



A total of 268 historical artifacts dating back to up to 4,500 years, including the Lidyan and Hellenistic periods were recovered.



One of the artifacts included an ancient Greek decree prepared on the order of Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire for the first Greek newspaper. -