Smuggled Anatolian idol sold in US

Guennol Stargazer, a 5,000-year-old Anatolian marble female figure that was smuggled from Turkey, was sold for $14,5 million at a New York auction on April 28. 

The sale was protested by Turks who gathered outside the auction house. 

The Guennol Stargazer, which dates back to the third millennium B.C., is regarded as one of best examples of Kiliya-type Anatolian marble female idols. 

The historic idol, which Turkey has initiated legal action for the return of, was sold at the New York center of the Christie's Auction House at the Rockefeller Center. 

The Guennol Stargazer, which was put on sale in The Exceptional Sale 2017 auction of Christie's, found a buyer for $12.5 million, reaching $14,471,500 million including all costs. 

Speaking to reporters in Istanbul before the auction, Turkish Culture Minister Nabi Avcı criticized the sale of the smuggled item. 

"We've taken steps to stop the sale of this work of art and inform the possible recipient that it was smuggled from Turkey," Avcı said. 

He also said the artifact was "part of a pillage that has been ongoing for 200 years." 

The ministry had contacted Christie's to request that the statuette be removed from the auction and returned to Turkey. The diplomatic initiative, however, was rebuffed, resulting in the ministry initiating legal action. 

The ministry also published a full-page letter in the New York Times to demand the repatriation of artifacts smuggled out of the country.

"The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey extends its appreciation to the institutions and individuals that have helped to repatriate lost artifacts to their Anatolian origins," the ministry's open letter to the New York...