'Kilia Idol' will not be returned to Turkey

The Kilia Idol, a 23-centimeter statuette that has been smuggled from Turkey, was sold at an auction in New York. According to a court order, the idol will not be returned to Turkey since the ministry was too late in taking action

The New York District Court has rejected the return of the "Kilia Idol," a 23-centimeter statuette that has been smuggled from Kulaksızlar in the western Turkish province of Manisa's Akhisar district and was sold at a New York auction on April 28.

Daily Cumhuriyet announced on April 14 that the 5,000-year-old Anatolian marble female figure, known as the Guennol Stargazer as it looks to the sky, will be put up for sale by New York Christie's at an auction. The idol had an estimated sale price of $3 million and had found a buyer for $14.5 million. 

Meanwhile, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry had contacted Christie's to request that the statuette be removed from the auction and returned to Turkey. The initiative 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.

With the action by the Lawrence M. Kaye of Herrick Feinstein law firm, which successfully represented Turkey in the cases of Karun and Elmalı treasures, the buyer would have to wait for 60 days before receiving the idol, meaning Christie's will not be able to receive payment and deliver the artifact for two months.

But the Judge for the Southern District of New York Alison Julie Nathan probed the defenses and documents of both sides, recalled the rule of the "three-year time-out," and announced the result on Aug. 28. "In 1966, Tennis Hall of Fame Inductee Alastair B. Martin bought the...