[MSN] A Turkish museum has formally demanded that the Louvre Museum in Paris and another French museum hand over precious ceramics from the Ottoman era, which were stolen from Istanbul.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Turkish museum seeks return of stolen rare tiles
Last Updated Sun, 25 Jun 2006 14:13:35 EDT
CBC Arts 

A Turkish museum has formally demanded that the Louvre Museum in Paris and
another French museum hand over precious ceramics from the Ottoman era,
which were stolen from Istanbul.

"A file has been opened on the case to enable the [Culture] Ministry to
recover stolen ceramics . discovered in the Decorative Arts Museum in Sevres
and the Louvre Museum in Paris," Jale Dedeoglu of the Hagia Sophia Museum in
Istanbul told Agence France-Presse in a report published Sunday.

Dedeoglu said the antique ceramic tiles had been taken by a French art
collector, Albert Sorlin-Dorigny, from the tombs of two sultans: Selim II
(1566-1574) and Murat III (1574-1595).

The wall panel at the entrance of the Sultan Selim II Tomb is made up of
about 60 tiles. The tiles are said to be a rarity among the masterpieces of
Turkish tile artwork.

Dedeoglu alleges Sorlin-Dorigny removed the highly-prized objects during
restoration work, replacing them with fakes and taking the real ones back to
France. He allegedly sold them to the museums in 1895.

A professor who was doing research in the storage rooms of both museums
discovered and photographed the originals in 2003.

The legendary Hagia Sophia mosque, a former Eastern Othodox Church converted
to a mosque in 1453, was turned into a museum in 1935.

The building, with its deep carvings, mosaics and ancient tiles, is
considered a marvel of Sixth Century classical Byzantine architecture and
decor.

In total, the Turkish Culture Ministry is trying to recover 35 objects taken
from the country's museums.

It's in talks with the Boston Museum in the United States and other
institutions in Germany, Greece and Russia over artifacts taken from the
city of Troy.

http://www.cbc.ca/