Return of the Elgin Marbles discussed between British Museum and Greek PM in ‘private meetings’
The return of the Elgin Marbles is understood to have been discussed in “private meetings” between the Greek Prime Minister and the British Museum.
Foreign minister Giorgos Gerapetritis was also said to have attended, with the pair allegedly having up to three meetings with trustees of the museum and chair George Osbourne about returning the sculptures this year.
The Elgin Marbles – also known as the Parthenon Sculptures – are part of a frieze that decorated the ancient Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens.
They were removed by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century while he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which then ruled Greece.
Lord Elgin claimed he had been given permission by the Ottoman Empire to transfer the marbles and sold them to the UK government in 1816 before they were given to the trusteeship of the British Museum.
However, Turkey believes this permission was never given, and publicly supported Greece this summer at the United Nations Return & Restitution Intergovernmental Committee (ICPRCP).
Dr Zeynep Boz, head of the department for combating illicit trafficking for Turkey’s culture ministry said there is no proof of the permission form, known as a firman.
“There is no firman, only an Italian text referred to as a translation of the firman, but without the original document, we cannot authenticate it,” she told Sky News:
“Despite extensive archival research, no such firman has been found. It is even difficult to call this document a translation when the original is not available.”
However, Dr Mario Trabucco della Torretta, a classical archeologist who has campaigned to keep the sculptures in London says the evidence is there.
He claimed: “Overall, there is way more evidence for the permission than there will ever be for the fiction of the ‘theft’ of the marbles.
“The fact that we don’t have the original anymore is of no consequence. The original, seen by John Galt in Athens, was destroyed by the Greeks when they set fire to the archives of the Voivode in 1821.”
The British Museum Act 1963 prevents treasures from being legally given away by the British Museum.
The Department of Media Culture and Sports said it it up to the trustees of the museum to decide what to do, and that it has “no plans to change existing government policy on restitution.”
This comes as Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis is due to meet with Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday, where it is believed they will discuss the marbles.
Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak believed the collection should stay in Britain, however the current PM is said to be more favourable to a return of the sculptures.