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NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 21: A total of 28 Turkish cultural artifacts confiscated in the US, were handed over to Turkiye's Consulate General in New York on Friday. Seized historical artifacts, including 16 of them which are in the antique art collection of US billionaire Michael Steinhardt, are returning to Turkiye. During the hand over ceremony held in Turkevi Center, historical artifacts were received by Reyhan Ozgur, Turkish consul general in New York, from the US Department of Homeland Security and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. In his speech, Ozgur said that the returning process of 28 historical artifacts smuggled from Turkiye was successfully completed with the work carried out by the country's Culture and Tourism Ministry. Reminding that Turkiye has recovered more than 8,000 historical artifacts that were smuggled in the last 20 years, he added that the artifacts would be exhibited in Turkish museums. Among the recovered items are 12 coins, a 6,000-year-old Kilia idol, a mother goddess idol from the neolithic period and a Stag’s Head Rhyton. Last month, Turkiye announced that it recovered some 3,480 of its cultural assets in 2021, thanks to the efforts of the country's anti-smuggling authorities. The process for recovering artifacts involves multiple state agencies, including law enforcement and judicial authorities, as well as diplomatic efforts and court cases in the countries where the artifacts are found. Taking cultural assets abroad without official permission has been illegal since the Republic of Turkiye’s founding, and earlier in the Ottoman Empire. Under current legislation, unlicensed excavation is illegal, as is failing to report any uncovered artifacts to authorities. (Footage by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)