Syria’s northwest has become transit point for smuggling antiquities
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday, an academic researcher specializing in archeology in the city of Raqqa, north Syria, said that northwest Syria has become a major transit point for antiquities smuggling and trafficking.
in the presence of educated people and civilian activists, the Union of Intellectuals at Raqqa Center for Culture and Arts held a lecture entitled “Trafficking and looting of cultural property.”
The lecture touched on abuses of archaeological sites in Syria.
“The areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham provide a fertile environment for trafficking in Syria’s antiquities and smuggling them abroad,” Yasser al-Shouhan, an academic researcher specializing in archeology, said.
In northwestern Syria, there have been some groups who are active in antiquities trafficking and smuggling through intermediaries in Turkey towards the global antiquities trade, according to al-Shouhan.
“Protecting archaeological sites and stopping the abuses against them requires concerted local as well as international efforts,” he added.
He considered that the ongoing armed conflict in Syria had left a profound impact on the archaeological sites. Most of these sites have been vandalized and destroyed, whether deliberately looted or bombarded by the warring parties.
Syria’s exceptional archaeological, urban and architectural heritage has been considerably damaged during the conflict. There is evidence that the World Heritage properties have been and are being used for military purposes, and subjected to direct shelling and targeted explosions, as well as extensive illicit excavations, construction violations and temporary human occupation, UNESCO said.