Translated material
Thieves of 300 works from Ankara State Museum arrested in Turkey
Ankara police have detained three suspects in the robbery of the Ankara State Museum of Fine Arts. In total, 18 people are suspects in the case.
According to investigators, in the period from 2005 to 2009, the malefactors took out more than 300 exhibits from the museum, replacing them with copies. The creation of fakes was carried out by invited experts from Ukraine.
The Turkish Ministry of Culture learned about the robbery thanks to a phone call from a witness under the pseudonym Daylight. The witness said that he learned about the crime from the gang members. According to Daylight, the stolen art was sold by the thieves.
According to the witness, among the members of the gang were the head of the museum's security. The director of the museum is also involved in the case: she allegedly offered Sarah to the leader of the gang to sell works from the storerooms.