Greece and Turkey have established a permanent cultural forum to strengthen bilateral cooperation in cultural heritage, museums, research, education, and new technologies, creating a new institutional framework for dialogue between the two countries.

The Greece-Türkiye Cultural Forum was formally established last week through a Joint Declaration signed by Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy during the forum’s inaugural session in Cappadocia. Under the agreement, the forum will meet regularly in both countries and serve as a platform for exchanging expertise and developing joint initiatives. “Culture is perhaps the deepest and most enduring field of communication between our societies,” Mendoni said.

The forum is the latest outcome of efforts to strengthen Greek-Turkish relations following the Athens Declaration on Friendship and Good Neighbourly Relations signed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in December 2023. It also builds on a Memorandum of Cultural Cooperation signed by the two culture ministers during the 6th Supreme Cooperation Council in Ankara.

Heritage protection and cultural cooperation between Greece and Turkey

During the forum, Mendoni outlined Greece’s approach to heritage protection, noting that Greek legislation safeguards all monuments equally—ancient, Byzantine, Ottoman, post-Byzantine and modern—regardless of their religious or cultural origin. She also stated that all are incorporated into the country’s cultural routes and tourism networks.

Furthermore, the forum featured presentations by officials and experts from both countries on the restoration and conservation of Byzantine and Ottoman monuments, heritage management, historical research, and the use of new technologies in the cultural sector. Discussions also focused on combating the illicit trafficking of cultural goods, an area in which Greece and Turkey have cooperated since signing a bilateral protocol in 2013.

“The exchange of information, the cooperation of competent services and the use of international mechanisms are crucial tools for effectively combating the illegal trafficking of cultural goods and securing their return to their place of origin,” Mendoni said. The Joint Declaration also highlights the importance of digitalization and improving public access to cultural resources through digital technologies, while encouraging closer cooperation in the use of emerging technologies in heritage management.

On the sidelines of the forum, Mendoni thanked Ersoy for Turkey’s support at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee regarding the return of the Parthenon Sculptures. She noted that his confirmation that no Ottoman document ever authorized Lord Elgin’s removal of the sculptures strengthens the international case for their reunification in Athens.

Related: Turkey Deals Blow on the UK’s Legal Claim For the Parthenon Marbles

Forty-eight Cypriot antiquities, including limestone vases and figurines dating from the Early Bronze Age to the Medieval period, were officially returned from a private collection in Greece.

Cyprus’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Lina Kassianidou, received the antiquities from the Minister of Culture of the Hellenic Republic, Lina Mendoni. The artifacts were originally acquired in Cyprus during the 1960s and 1970s. Following the collector’s passing, their heirs chose to hand them over to the Greek state so they could be evaluated for repatriation to their country of origin.

Greece and Cyprus have seen their cultural heritage and antiquities plundered

Kassianidou expressed her gratitude to Mendoni, the Greek authorities, and the collector’s heirs for their voluntary and decisive role in returning the artifacts to their place of origin.

“The repatriation of these antiquities is more than just cooperation between the authorities of Cyprus and Greece, or another milestone in the bilateral agreement we signed eighteen months ago,” Dr. Kassianidou stated. “Above all, it is a tangible example of how we protect cultural heritage in practice, safeguarding the right of societies to keep their connection to history, memory, and identity alive.”

Mendoni added:

“Greece, a leader in protecting cultural heritage against illegal trafficking, is returning these forty-eight antiquities to their birthplace, in line with the 1970 UNESCO Convention and our bilateral agreement. Both Greece and Cyprus have seen their cultural heritage plundered over the years. Our two nations are joining forces, knowing full well that truly protecting cultural property on an international scale requires cooperation, mutual understanding, and solidarity.”

Related: More Ancient Artifacts Repatriated to Greece from the US