ISTANBUL, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye has established itself as a regional leader in museum security and cultural heritage preservation, effectively integrating meticulous documentation, advanced technology and international collaboration.
"It was a national disappointment," said Zeynep Boz, head of the Department for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property at Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, referring to one of the country's most painful heritage incidents -- the theft of the Winged Seahorse Brooch, centerpiece of the Lydian Hoard.
"But instead of hiding the theft, we made the artifact famous by registering it in Interpol's database and featuring it in every presentation, short film, and digital platform we could -- making it so well-known that no one dared to sell it," Boz told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Shortly after the treasure was repatriated from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1993, the brooch was secretly swapped with a fake while on display at the Usak Archaeology Museum in central Anatolia. The original, which was later recovered in Germany through police cooperation, has since been returned to Türkiye.
"If this artifact hadn't been registered in Interpol's database, and if its image hadn't been widely shared across digital platforms, we wouldn't have achieved this outcome," Boz said.
Visibility itself can serve as a form of protection, she stressed, citing the recent theft of France's crown jewels from the Louvre, whose "fame and historical significance make individual sales nearly impossible," -- much like the Winged Seahorse Brooch.
While intensifying its global campaign to recover looted artifacts, Türkiye is also focusing inward -- leveraging new technologies, international databases and modern security systems to safeguard its heritage and prevent future losses.
Over the past eight years, Türkiye has facilitated the return of more than 9,000 cultural artifacts taken abroad through looting or illegal excavations. These items are now displayed in museums across the country, enriching the nation's cultural legacy.
Asli Agirbas, a scholar of artificial intelligence and heritage preservation at Ozyegin University, said Türkiye's proactive approach marks a clear shift.
"In the past, museum protection was mostly reactive -- waiting until something went missing. Today, through digital inventories, AI-driven image recognition, and systems such as the National Museum Inventory System, Türkiye is building a preventive security culture," she explained.
Projects like the Istanbul Hittite Digital Library use AI to decipher ancient Anatolian languages and digitize clay tablets, making them accessible to researchers while protecting them from deterioration. Experts note that digital preservation has become as crucial as physical security.
Irfan Karsli, head of the Turkish-Chinese Cultural Association, said that cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has helped standardize documentation methods, ensuring transparency and reinforcing Türkiye's reputation as a responsible guardian of world heritage. ■