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Germany hits back in row with Turkey over Hittite sphinx

Germany authorities on Friday hit back at Turkish Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay after he demanded the return of an ancient sphinx uncovered from a German archeological dig nearly a century ago.

In an interview with Thursday's Tagesspiegel, Günay gave Germany until June to hand back the priceless artifact, thought to date from around 1400 BC, else Ankara would revoke permits for other German excavations.

But in a statement issued Friday, the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which groups together Berlin's main museums, said that Turkey had been clamoring for the return of the sphinx since the 1930s....
Read entire article at Hurriyet (Turkey)