The Russian Interpol is in the process of assisting Syria in recovering looted monuments
A delegation of the Russian National Interpol Office is visiting Damascus this week to discuss ways of cooperation with the Syrian side and to support Syria in recovering its looted monuments during the war.
The head of the Russian Interpol’s office, Roman Gordenko, confirmed that his office is ready to assist the Syrian side in searching for and retrieving stolen Syrian antiquities and cultural artifacts wherever possible in the world.
Gordenko, who heads the delegation, pointed to the existence of special inventory systems and an Interpol information/data bank to trace stolen cultural and antiquities.
The Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon, France, manages this information/data bank and interacts with museums and auction houses.
“Russia has the expertise to find and discover stolen cultural artifacts using these INTERPOL means, and we are ready to provide this expertise to the Syrian side …
The main task of the Syrians in this area is to detect and announce the theft in time, In the data bank, in the inventory system of stolen cultural property, to be tracked and identify the possibilities of the world’s artifacts and channels of smuggling.
