Greek culture minister says British Museum director op-ed ‘unfortunate’

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has described comments in an op-ed in the Sunday Times by British Museum Director Ηartwig Fischer about the Parthenon Marbles as "unfortunate, if not outright unacceptable."

Mendoni said his remarks reflect ignorance of the archaeological and historical data concerning the Parthenon and that he "obviously ignores the importance and the rules governing the ethics of monuments but also of Museums, and offends not only Greece but also the institution which he represents."

Fischer posited on Sunday that the Parthenon sculptures "are fragments of a lost whole that cannot be put back together."

"Only about 50 percent of the original sculptures survive from antiquity," he said.