Over 2,200 looted artefacts, many from ancient Egypt, were seized as part of a Europe-wide crackdown that also snared 35 suspected traffickers, Europol announced Jan. 29. Among the most valuable of the recovered cultural items was a majestic bust of Egyptian goddess Sekhmet worth an estimated 100,000 euros ($113,000), said Spanish police Captain Javier Morales, an expert in historic objects. Link

Archaeological workers, employed at the Yenikapı dig for years in the name of the Culture and Tourism Ministry but registered as working for an excavation company, won the case they filed against the ministry. Link

An expropriation process has been continuing in the historic Agora in the center of İzmir since 1997, and archaeologists in the Kadifekale neighborhood have recently extended the site’s excavation field with the support of the local metropolitan municipality. Link

UK gallery group releases numbers from 17-year period to campaign group Platform after ruling by an information tribunal. The revelation, which comes after Tate lost at a freedom of information tribunal, put into the spotlight BP’s sponsorship of the arts which continues with a deal in place until 2017 giving £10m over five years to four national institutions: Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum and the Royal Opera House. Link1 Link2 Link3

Leading cultural, historical and business figures came together on Jan. 21 at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris for a conference on Göbeklitepe, during which participants reiterated their commitment to improving the Neolithic site. Link

A 7,000-year-oldtomb discovered during excavations at the temple of Apollon Smintheus in Çanakkale provides information about ancient burial methods. The tomb is the first one unearthed since work began in 2004. Link

The Archaeological Museum in Hatay, one of Turkey’s most religiously diverse provinces, will soon boast the world’s largest mosaic collection, following restorations to the building. “This is a special museum in terms of such features. Half of the museum is currently open. Nearly 400 square meters of mosaics are on display, most of which are being seen for the first time,” said Hatay Archaeology Museum's official restorer, Celaleddin Küçük. Link

A trade seal dating back to the Urartian era has been unearthed during archaeological excavations at the Tepeköy mound in the eastern province of Muş’s Varto district. Ahlat Museum Director Ziya Kılınç said 18 artifacts had been unearthed in the excavations that ended on Dec. 29, 2014. Link

The identification of a cut on a skull that was unearthed during the Bathonea excavations, which archaeologists have been conducting in the Küçükçekmece lake basin for the last five years, appears to reveal that brain surgery was performed 1,000 years ago. Link