France Returns 23 Ancient Artifacts to Syria During Emmanuel Macron’s Damascus Visit

France returned 23 ancient artifacts to Syria that had been loaned more than a decade ago for an exhibition at the Arab World Institute in Paris, with the handover carried out aboard the French presidential aircraft during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Damascus.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the return marks the first step in a national campaign to recover Syrian antiquities located around the world, and it said France is the first country to cooperate with the initiative.

Al Jazeera

The Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums said the loan was made in 2011 for the permanent exhibition at the Arab World Institute in Paris, and it said the return had been planned for 2014 but was prevented by the outbreak of the civil war.

The Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums also said the previous regime failed to secure the return of the artifacts, while French authorities refrained from sending them back due to the ongoing conflict and concerns over security and preservation conditions in Syria.

Arab News said the repatriation was welcomed as a sign of renewed ties and respect for Syria’s cultural heritage, but it also reopened questions about why the objects were not returned years ago and whether they can be protected.

Loujein Haj Youssef, a Paris-based Syrian journalist, told Arab News that France “has decided to rebuild ties with countries on the basis of respect for history and shared memory.”

Al-Monitor

Madison Leeson, an Amman-based researcher focused on cultural heritage crime, welcomed the return as “a victory for Syria to get these back where they belong,” and she said she hoped it would be “the first of many repatriations.”

Arab News also quoted Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s former director-general of antiquities and museums, saying the artifacts “belong to the Syrian people, not to any political regime,” and he argued that framing the return as a diplomatic gesture obscures that they were Syrian cultural property under a signed loan agreement.

Alongside the artifact return, French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would return more than 50 million euros confiscated from the family of former ruler Bashar al-Assad to the Syrian people, and he said the funds would be returned “to finance concrete development projects in the territory.”

“- France returned the 23 objects during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Damascus - Some observers welcomed the handover, while others said it raised questions about the long delay 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”

Arab News

The National reported that France and Syria began returning €51 million ($58 million) to fund Syrian development projects, and it said the two countries established a comprehensive co-operation framework covering economic, cultural, healthcare, security and justice fields to support Syria’s reconstruction.

The National also said the meeting between the two leaders went ahead despite two explosions in the capital on Tuesday near the Four Seasons Hotel where Macron had stayed on his first night, with authorities saying 18 people were injured.

In the same reporting, Macron said “We stood by the Syrian people when they sought unity and freedom, and we never wavered from that path,” as the article tied the restitution steps to a broader push to reopen ties and deepen engagement with the post-Assad government.