LONDON: France has returned 23 Syrian archaeological artifacts that had been in Paris since before the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, handing them back during President Emmanuel Macron’s recent visit to Damascus.
The move has been welcomed as a sign of renewed ties and respect for Syria’s cultural heritage, but it has also reopened questions about why the objects were not returned years ago and whether they can be protected.
The artifacts were taken to Syria aboard the French presidential aircraft after being held as part of an exhibition of Syrian antiquities at the Arab World Institute in Paris, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The objects were loaned in 2010, during the rule of now-deposed President Bashar Assad, from museums in Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia and Palmyra. They were due to be returned in 2014, but stayed in France after diplomatic relations between Paris and Damascus were severed after the start of the war in March 2011.
For some observers, the handover amounts to a diplomatic gesture signaling a reset in French-Syrian relations. For others, it is simply an overdue correction.
