Having traveled to many different areas of Turkey, it became clear to me that so many of Turkey's treasures have been brought to different parts of the world and displayed in many museums on foreign soil. Here is an interesting article I was reading on the Turkish Daily news site. It is my understanding that Turkey is working with several countries around the world to retrieve precious artifacts from from it's numerous historical sites:

A petition to bring back three female statue heads smuggled from Ancient Tralles and sold to the Louvre Museum, France between 1897 and 1951 has been launched by the Kuşadası Professional Tourist Guides Association (KURED).

KURED president, Ali Karapınar, said they will also carry out the same campaign on the Internet and will be in touch with the president of the Turkey-France Friendship Association ATATURQUIE, Murat Erpuyan, who will carry out the campaign in France, while talking to the Anatolia news agency. Karapınar said that France was sensitive about returning the ancient works to its home country. About 3,000 signatures are expected from the France leg of the campaign.

Karapınar said that it was the first time in Turkey that an occupational commission carried out such a big project. He stated that journalist, Özgen Acar, also supported them, indicating that they were only trying to fulfill their intellectual responsibilities toward the city of Aydın.

Karapınar said that they will send the documents both to Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay and to the Louvre Museum Directorate. He also said that they will not hesitate to apply to the European Courts in case the museum turns down their request. Their aim is to exhibit the works at the Aydın Museum of Archaeology.