UPDATE - Turkey: 7 arrested over smuggling historical artifacts

By Lale Koklu Karagoz and Hilmi Tunahan Karakaya

HATAY/ ERZURUM, Turkey (AA) – Security forces on Thursday nabbed seven suspects over smuggling historical artifacts, seizing many objects across the Turkey.

Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a raid in the Antakya district of Hatay province, said security sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

A total of 282 coins, 41 rings, arrows and pendants, 18 stone objects, four seals, and two broken rings were confiscated during the operation, which also arrested a suspect.

Later, the seized artifacts were handed in to the Hatay Archeology Museum for examination.

Separately, six suspects were arrested in the eastern Erzurum province for smuggling a historical artifact, the governorship said in a statement.

When the gendarmerie forces stopped two suspected vehicles on the Hinis-Varto highway for searching, they found 31 silver medallions, two silver statues and four silver coins from the Byzantine and Roman periods.

The seized objects were handed over to the Erzurum Museum and six suspects in the vehicles were arrested.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan in Ankara