French restoration of the tomb of Selim II; Cultural Looting. (Excerpt from the book “Hagia Sophia, A Monument)

France is still at the forefront of European states in the economic and cultural looting of the peoples and civilizations of Africa and Asia and the looting of the tomb of Sultan Selim II located at the Hagia Sophia Complex, is a simple example of its facts. Indeed, in 1895, the French Albert Dorigny[1], under the pretext of restoring an earthenware panel from the tomb of Sultan Selim II and sending it to France for cleaning, stole it and replaced it with an imitation one, thus the panel that came back was a fake.

The stolen Iznik tile panel was then exhibited in Paris in France’s most famous museum, the Louvre, and became one of the attractions of that museum’s Islamic arts department. But currently, it has been removed and the fake faience tile panel still stands on the left side of the entrance door to the tomb of Sultan Selim II, and can be easily identified by a seal indicating that it was made in Sèvres, France.

Time and poor imitation quality were not in favor of thieves, so the deception was discovered in early 2006 during the restoration of the tomb in question. ‘’At the beginning the imitation was difficult to distinguish it from the original, but with time the colors of the fake were faded, on the other hand the colors of the original kept their shine if as it was made yesterday’’, according to Mr. Cengiz[2].

The Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism has asked France to return the panel of earthenware tiles, stolen from the tomb of Sultan Selim II located in the Hagia Sophia complex, but the French have not yet given a favorable response.

[1] Dorigny, was the dentist of Sultan Abdülhamit II.

[2] Hayrullah Cengiz, the Director of the former Hagia Sophia Museum.