Greek Minister for Culture Lydia Koniordou Intensifies Dialogue on Parthenon Marbles

Thanks to long-standing Greek representations to the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP), UNESCO has acknowledged the “historical, cultural, legal and ethical dimensions of the issue of the return of the Marbles to the Parthenon, which is a World Heritage Site and as such of universal significance. The ICPRCP committee is calling on both sides to resolve the issue with a “mutually acceptable solution”.

Highlighting the cultural and ethical dimensions

Following this important ICPRCP decision, Greek Culture Minister Lydia Koniordou met with her counterpart in London.

Online news service GTP reports:
“The issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece was tabled during a meeting this week in London, between Greek Culture Minister Lydia Koniordou and her UK counterpart Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Hancock.

Minister Koniordou, also met with Michael Ellis, undersecretary of state for culture, said that it was time to intensify the dialogue between the two sides on a political level, highlighting the cultural and ethical dimensions of the issue, while underlining at the same time a recent recommendation by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP), which for the first time took a clear stance on the highly debated issue earlier this month.”

Lydia Koniordou – Kassel photographs