Turkey launches inquiry over allegedly looted artworks at the Cleveland Museum of Art



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Turkey has reportedly asked the Cleveland Museum of Art about 22 objects it claims were looted from its soil, including some of the most famous masterpiece in its collection.

The list includes the “Jonah Marbles,” a series of five early Christian carvings representing the Biblical tale of Jonah; a pair of contemporary portrait busts of a nobleman and woman closely associated with the Jonah Marbles; a monumental ancient Roman bronze sculpture thought to represent an emperor — possibly Marcus Aurelius; and the so-called “Stargazer,” a 5,000-year-old stone carving of a female figure.

Reporter Jason Felch first reported in the Saturday edition of the Los Angeles Times that Turkey has asked American museums to return dozens of objects it believes were looted from archaeological sites in the country.

On Monday, Felch posted a detailed list of the objects he said Turkey is seeking from Cleveland museum, on his “Chasing Aphrodite” website.

In response, the museum said through a spokesperson that its policy “is not to discuss publicly the substance of inquiries by foreign countries about objects in the museum's collection unless and until there is a definitive resolution of those inquiries. The museum believes that this policy encourages an informed and constructive dialogue as to these matters.”

Along with the Cleveland museum, Turkey is seeking objects from the permanent collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C.

Murat Suslu, Turkey’s director general for cultural heritage and museums, the source for the ‘Times story, was not immediately available for comment Monday.