‘If a firman had ever existed…’

Her statement at last May's UNESCO intergovernmental committee caused a stir in Greece and abroad. It was no small thing for a representative of Turkey to say that the sultan's firman invoked by Britain to justify Lord Elgin's removal of the Parthenon Sculptures and their subsequent purchase by the British government has not been found in Ottoman archives.

And few people are more qualified to make such a statement than Zeynep Boz, head of Turkey's department for combating the illegal trafficking of antiquities. She has been working at the Turkish Culture Ministry for 18 years and her research into Ottoman archives and participation in related academic conferences have been extensive. Her efforts with regard to Elgin's firman, however, have been fruitless.

Boz was in Athens to take part in the 4th Greek-Turkish Media & Academy Forum, held at the Acropolis Museum, on...