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Türkiye has received its first official return of cultural artefacts from Canada, with 11 historic works now set to come back to their country of origin after a Canadian court approved their repatriation.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced on Tuesday that the handover took place the previous evening in Ottawa, where Turkish officials received seven manuscript pages, two rare printed book pages and two modern calligraphy works.
The items date from between the 17th and 19th centuries.
“We finalised another repatriation. We carried out the first official return from Canada to Türkiye last night,” Ersoy said. He added that the works were received in Canada’s capital, Ottawa.
According to a written statement from the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the artefacts were formally handed over during a ceremony at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa.
Birol Incecikoz, director general of cultural assets and museums at the ministry, received the works from Canadian officials on behalf of Türkiye.
The ministry said the return followed a ruling by the Federal Court of Canada dated Sept. 11, 2025. The decision marked the first official repatriation of cultural property from Canada to Türkiye and is being treated as a precedent in international cultural property law.
Ersoy said the ruling carries broader importance beyond this single case.
“With the decision of the Federal Court of Canada, the works will now return to their homeland. This return also serves as a strong precedent internationally,” he said.
He also said Türkiye continues to track down and recover artefacts removed from the country through illegal means.
The returned group consists of seven manuscript pages removed from different handwritten volumes, two rare printed book pages and two modern calligraphy works.
Officials said the works contain texts in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish and cover fields including Islamic jurisprudence, Sufism, history and literature.
Examinations found that the manuscript pages had been detached from their original bindings. Authorities also determined that modern miniature illustrations had later been added to some leaves.
The ministry said these interventions appeared to be linked to forgery and commercial motives, but the items still retained their status as cultural property.
The works were detected in January 2024 when they were being taken from Istanbul to Vancouver, according to the ministry.
The Canada Border Services Agency identified the items, which led to the case being transferred to the Canadian Heritage Ministry. Official contact was then established with Türkiye, and a technical and legal process followed.
Based on scientific reports and legal documents submitted by Türkiye, the Canadian court ruled that the works were cultural assets belonging to Türkiye under Law No. 2863.
The ministry described the return as a concrete example of international cooperation under the 1970 UNESCO Convention and said it reflected growing global solidarity in the protection of cultural heritage.
Ersoy thanked the teams involved in the process, including the General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums, the Turkish Manuscripts Institution, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, and Türkiye’s embassy in Ottawa.
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