New York Times shines light on Parthenon Marbles with front page story

The New York Times is the latest major international media outlet to spotlight apparent progress in the efforts to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, reporting that, “the British Museum and Greece’s prime minister are getting closer to a deal on returning the so-called Elgin Marbles to Athens. But key differences remain.”
The article, titled ‘After 220 Years, the Fate of the Parthenon Marbles Rests in Secret Talks’, was written by London-based Alex Marshall, who has been reporting on Parthenon sculptures since 2018. He introduced the topic by noting: “Torn in some cases from the temple walls, ostensibly with the permission of the Ottomans who then ruled Greece, the so-called Elgin Marbles were later sold to the British government and became some of the most storied artifacts in the collection of the British Museum. But they also became, almost from the very day they were removed, the subject of perhaps the world’s most notorious cultural dispute.”
He explained that, “the British say the marbles were legally acquired and are best shown alongside other artifacts in a universal museum, while the Greeks view them as looted treasures that are a foundation of their national heritage. The debate has only deepened in recent years as the actions of old empires have come under new scrutiny, and restitution battles have come to challenge the foundations of Western museums.”
Noting that there is growing pressure to return the marbles as museums “have given back high-profile items including Benin Bronzes, Italian antiquities and other fragments from the Parthenon that were relinquished just last month by the Vatican,” he adds that, “now there are hopeful signals that perhaps a resolution between the British Museum and Greece could be in sight as officials on both sides have acknowledged that secret talks have taken place.”
Marshall admits, however, that, “indeed, they remain far apart on some key questions,” after talks in London that began November, 2021 between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece and George Osborne, the chairman of the British Museum.
Marshall has spoken to “two people with knowledge of the negotiations who were granted anonymity to discuss confidential talks. One of those people had knowledge of the Greek position; the other knew the British Museum’s.”
Summarizing media speculation the article notes that, “one article last month in the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, which broke news of the talks, said they were ‘90 percent’ complete, citing ‘well-placed’ Greek sources. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the parties were ‘closing in’ on a deal…. Under the discussed proposal, the Bloomberg article said, some of the monuments would return to Athens temporarily, in exchange for other ancient treasures.”
According to Marshall’s sources, however, “a deal remains much further away than those reports suggest… And, in fact, in recent days officials from both sides have spoken publicly to pump the brakes on the soaring expectations that any deal was imminent.”
Read more at thenationalherald.com
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Solipsist~commonswiki
- 1) Priceless antiquities returned to the people of Greece at New York Consulate
- 2) China and Greece join forces to create mutual learning model between cultures
- 3) UK’s Prime Minister rules out return of Parthenon Marbles to Greece
- 4) British Museum head on solving 200-year-old dispute with Elgin Marbles
28/03 22:34
28/03 21:00
City of San Jose marks Greek Independence with flag-raising ceremony
28/03 20:42
Professor Roderick Beaton sworn in as Greek citizen at Bank of Greece ceremony
28/03 19:47
St. John the Baptist community marks March 25th in Des Plaines of Illinois
28/03 13:53
Residents on Greek island of Halki producing the electricity they consume
27/03 21:31
Greek flag-raising ceremony in Athens Square Park honors March 25th (videos)
27/03 19:39
Athens metro strike on Tuesday called off after talks with government
27/03 18:42
Work permits for migrant farm workers extended in Greece to December 31
27/03 14:22
No more mandatory use of protection masks in mass means of transport in Greece
27/03 11:25
The Tank New York City presents the Artaud Diptych by Greek playwrights
26/03 23:16
26/03 16:03
Deputy Tourism Minister: Scheduled flights to Greece to rise by 15% in 2023 compared to 2019
26/03 14:12
Flight from Belfast inaugurates tourism season for Greek island of Corfu
26/03 13:20
Greek PM: We will do everything for railways to regain passengers' trust
25/03 23:03
Greek FM: Positive turn in relations with Turkey due to neighboring country's attitude change
25/03 15:53
Congratulatory messages from state leaders and embassies on Greek Independence Day
25/03 13:40
Greek Independence Day celebrated with parades and cultural events
25/03 10:58
Tourism commits to water action agenda at 2023 United Nations water conference
24/03 23:25
Digital upgrade to take some Greek tax services offline on March 30
23/03 22:50
IATA and AWS launch firsf Datathon to promote diversity in aviation
23/03 22:27
Greek battle ships dock at Piraeus port for public visits over Independence Day
23/03 22:18
23/03 19:55
Passenger traffic in Greek airports grows 53.3% in February compared to 2022
23/03 18:13
Fall in coronavirus infections and rise in flu cases in Greece on March 13-19
23/03 14:23
22/03 23:37
Priceless antiquities returned to the people of Greece at New York Consulate
22/03 22:42
22/03 21:46
Greek summer school organized in Peloponnnesian city of Kalamata in 2023
22/03 18:52
Downtown Athens traffic restrictions imposed for Greek Independence Day parades
22/03 17:31
ABNA-SE conference concluded with general assembly in Thessaloniki
21/03 23:17
UNWTO organizes tourism statistics workshop for Asia and Pacific in Nepal
21/03 23:00
Calilo Resort on Ios: A Greek hotel in the 11 most sustainable hotels in the world
21/03 22:21
HRADF inks Igoumenitsa Port share purchase deal with Grimaldi-led joint venture
21/03 16:15
19/03 14:10
UNWTO launches new Women in Tech startup competition across the Middle East
19/03 14:07
Greek president attends memorial march for Thessaloniki Jews killed in Holocaust
19/03 09:14
Greek Minister: Relaunching railway services key to restoring public's confidence
18/03 14:07
FM launches official campaign of Greek candidacy for UN Security Council
18/03 13:37
18/03 13:28
Greek Tourism Minister forecasts that 2023 will be a very strong year for sector
18/03 09:02
Greek Minister meets visiting Israeli minister of science and technology in Athens
17/03 23:10
Passenger traffic rises in Greek ports but cargo drops in Q3 2022
17/03 16:09
17/03 15:04
China and Greece join forces to create mutual learning model between cultures
17/03 12:14
Τhe new minimum wage set by Greek government at 780 euros as of April 1
16/03 21:37
Walk against discrimination 2023 to take place at Syntagma Square on March 21
16/03 19:30
Central Athens road traffic restored after rallies and transport strikes
16/03 19:12
Athens Half-Marathon to affect traffic in and around downtown Athens on Sunday
16/03 14:17
Greek state budget recorded primary surplus of 4.201 billion euros in Jan-Feb
16/03 14:12
FinMin: Greek banks able to absorb any turbulence from global markets
16/03 14:03
IATA and Afroport Mauritanie ink agreement on ground handling safety
16/03 13:07
15/03 13:59
Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino opens this summer in Peloponnese of Greece
14/03 23:09
Greek mining enterprises planning to invest 300-400 million euros in 2023
14/03 20:41
Public transportation in Athens halted partially by 24-hour strike on Thursday
14/03 20:19
14/03 19:15
Nominations open for 2023 IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards in aviation
14/03 19:02
Health Minister: Greece lifting Covid measures with some exceptions
14/03 18:52
UNWTO Best Tourism Villages ceremony focused on tourism for rural development
14/03 17:33
Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air cancel all flights in Greece on Thursday
14/03 13:06
7th Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum in Thessaloniki on April 25-26
14/03 12:11
Hellenic Train: Buses to transport passengers for free on certain routes from March 15
14/03 12:00
Thessaloniki Urban Transport employees annunce 24-hour strike on March 16
14/03 00:10
Hellenic College - Holy Cross full accreditation reaffirmed by NECHE
13/03 23:23
75th Anniversary of Dodecanese unification marked on March 12 in Astoria
13/03 22:33
Greek Transport Minister and railway unions meet on safe restart of train services
13/03 19:18
UK’s Prime Minister rules out return of Parthenon Marbles to Greece
13/03 16:49
Hellenic Republic President: Cyprus top national priority of Greek foreign policy
12/03 14:23
British Museum head on solving 200-year-old dispute with Elgin Marbles
12/03 14:20
Greek unions call 24-hour national strike on Thursday over Tempi train crash
12/03 14:05
Summer tourism season kicks off in Greek island of Rhodes earlier than ever
12/03 13:11
Athens metro stations closed as protest rally is held over Tempi train collision
11/03 21:05
11/03 19:05
UNWTO marks Best Tourism Villages ceremony in AlUla of Saudi Arabia
11/03 17:15
Huawei VP CEE & Nordic Europe Region: Greece is a valuable market
11/03 13:27
UNWTO report on methodologies and tools to measure greenhouse gas emissions
11/03 12:58
GWTO head: Greece among most promising emerging wine tourism destinations
11/03 10:13
New Cyprus President to visit the Greek capital Athens on March 12-14
11/03 09:48
Hellenic Statistical Authority: Greek trade deficit fell 21.9% in January
10/03 20:20
Tourism's potential centered at LDCV, UN conference on least developed countries
10/03 19:24
Panhellenic Exporters Association: High Greek exports growth to continue
10/03 18:33
Construction commences on 'Giannis Antetokounmpo' BB court in Ghana
10/03 11:12
SKY Express offers free flights for Athens-Thessaloniki students
09/03 23:09
UNWTO and Saudi Arabia join forces to promote education and training in tourism
09/03 21:46
09/03 20:20
UNWTO: New report to support climate action in the tourism industry
09/03 13:45
Natural gas prices for households in Athens dropped 23% during February
09/03 02:13
Feminist organizations rally in downtown Athens for International Women's Day
09/03 00:18
The UK’s National Theatre staging Homer’s epic Odyssey across England
08/03 23:29
08/03 22:37
International Air Transport Association releases 2022 airline safety performance
08/03 22:06
Railroad employees to continue strike action in Greece through Friday
08/03 20:47
Archbishop of Greece meets with visiting Pakistani Shia Muslim leader in Athens
08/03 20:36
SNF Institute for Infectious Disease Research founded at Rockefeller University
08/03 18:53
Europarliament's Civil Liberties Committee completes two-day visit to Athens
08/03 17:01
UN World Tourism Organization: Women take "centre stage"in sector development
08/03 00:46
EU officials to discuss railway safety and modernization in Athens on Wednesday
08/03 00:13
07/03 22:29
Greek PM asks shipping minister to increase security on ships ahead of Easter
07/03 21:25
Athens mass transport to operate on limited schedule during Wednesday's strike
St. John the Baptist community marks March 25th in Des Plaines of Illinois
City of San Jose marks Greek Independence with flag-raising ceremony
Professor Roderick Beaton sworn in as Greek citizen at Bank of Greece ceremony
Residents on Greek island of Halki producing the electricity they consume
Greek flag-raising ceremony in Athens Square Park honors March 25th (videos)
Athens metro strike on Tuesday called off after talks with government
Work permits for migrant farm workers extended in Greece to December 31
The Tank New York City presents the Artaud Diptych by Greek playwrights
No more mandatory use of protection masks in mass means of transport in Greece
Founder of company renovating Athens’ Archaeological Museum wins ‘Architecture Nobel ’
International Monetary Fund: Greece to return to primary surpluses in 2023
Greek PM: We will do everything for railways to regain passengers' trust
Ermou street of Athens in top 15 most expensive shopping streets in the world
Deputy Tourism Minister: Scheduled flights to Greece to rise by 15% in 2023 compared to 2019
International air cargo tracks near pre-COVID pandemic levels
Flight from Belfast inaugurates tourism season for Greek island of Corfu
Domestic passenger traffic in Athens Airport surpassed 2019 levels by 1.5% in September
Expert optimistic that Covid pandemic is reaching endemic stage in Greece
National Observatory: January 2023 one of the warmest on record in Greece
Greek FM: Positive turn in relations with Turkey due to neighboring country's attitude change