Sixty-nine stolen antiquities were handed over to Cypriot authorities in the Austrian capital today and will be transported back to Cyprus over the weekend.
According to an Antiquities Department statement, they were delivered by Mr O.D (Austrian citizen who found them and who did not wish for his name to be disclosed) at a ceremony in Vienna to Deputy Minister of Culture, Vasiliki Kassianidou, in the presence of the Cypriot Ambassador Andreas Ignatiou, as well as representatives from the Austrian Ministries of European and International Affairs and Arts, Culture, Public Administration and Sports, international organizations (OSCE, UNODC), the Military History Museum and the University of Vienna.
The antiquities smuggled out of the island were kept in the apartment inherited by Mr. O.D who established their authenticity and the illegal nature of their removal from Republic of Cyprus territory and contacted Cypriot authorities in Austria.
These are antiquities dating from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period and consist mainly of ceramic vessels, fragments of stone and clay figurines, glass perfume bottles, a bone pin, and a smoking pipe.
The Department of Antiquities expressed gratitude to the Austrian man for informing authorities and handing over the antiquities.
Sincere thanks are also extended to the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Vienna and in particular Ambassador Ignatiou and Charalambos Palmas, “whose contribution was decisive in the positive outcome of the case,” as stated.
The Department assures the public that as the competent authority for the protection and management of Cyprus’ cultural heritage, it will continue intensive efforts towards this goal, always in close cooperation with the National Committee for Combating the Theft and Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage.
These include intensifying efforts to locate, claim, and repatriate antiquities that have been illegally exported, controlling the import of cultural objects, developing new technologies in this area, strengthening the training of personnel in the field of combating the illicit trafficking of antiquities, and raising public awareness, whose role is crucial ‘for the protection of our common cultural heritage’, the announcement concludes.
