Russia to UN Security Council: „Turkey’s Gaziantep city is the largest center for selling looted antiques from Syria and Iraq“

the real Syrian Free Press

History for Sale:
Daesh Selling Looted Artifacts in Turkish Markets

(SputnikNews) ~ The Islamic State (ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) jihadist group generates up to $200 million in annual profits from around 100,000 cultural objects it controls in Iraq and Syria selling them through the Turkish city of Gaziantep, the Russian permanent representative to the UN said in a letter to the UN Security Council presidency.

„The main centre for the smuggling of cultural heritage items is the Turkish city of Gaziantep, where the stolen goods are sold at illegal auctions and then through a network of antique shops and at the local market,“ Vitaly Churkin’s letter states.

The letter asserts that artifacts including jewelry and coins are delivered by Turkish transport companies, sold in shops opened on the Turkish-Syrian border, and then arrive in Izmir, Mersin and Antalya where documents are forged to hide their origins.

Daesh’ smuggling operations are said to be organized by its antiquities department, part of the caliphate’s so-called ministry for control of natural resources, under the leadership of Abu Sayyaf Iraqi.

Excavations at and transportation…

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