Turkish president fined for ‘insulting’ Armenia peace statueANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey’s state-run news agency says a court has ordered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pay 10,000 Turkish Lira (US$4,000) in compensation to an artist for calling his sculpture – meant to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia – a “monstrosity.” Erdogan expressed his dislike in 2011 of Mehmet Aksoy’s giant Monument […]
Turkish president to change palace name, add religious connotationANKARA (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said he would soon re-name his controversial new presidential palace, adopting the name of the complexes surrounding imperial mosques. Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara that the Presidential Palace would, in the future, be known as the Presidential Kulliye and will contain a mosque, […]
Cyprus welcomes home icons stolen after Turkish invasionNICOSIA, Cyprus (AFP) – Cyprus formally welcomed home from Germany on Tuesday scores of frescoes, mosaics and icons stolen from churches after the Turkish invasion in 1974 and returned after a long legal battle. The 173 Byzantine and post-Byzantine antiquities, which still show the damage caused when they were removed from around 50 Greek Orthodox […]
Custom pocket watch for an Imperial Russian prince heads Heritage’s June 3 saleDALLAS — Czapek & Cie has long been a watchmaker to royalty. Founded in the mid-19th century by Czech-Polish watch specialist Francois Czapek, the company continues its fine timekeeping heritage with luxury examples worn by the affluent. Around 1860, Czapek & Cie was commissioned to produce this pocket watch for Prince Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov (1787-1862) […]