Turkey frees Israeli held over ornamental bell it claimed was artifact
Lawyer for Acre resident says he’s heading back to Israel after being held for over a month, won’t be allowed back in Turkey

Turkish authorities have freed an Israeli man held in custody for over a month on suspicion of stealing an ancient artifact.
The man, an Acre resident who was not been named publicly, was arrested in August after airport officials in Antalya found an ornamental bell in his luggage, accusing him of attempting to smuggle an antiquity out of the country.
In his defense, the man showed a receipt for his purchase of the $100 item from a local market and said he was under the impression it was mass-produced.
As part of efforts to secure his freedom, his family also presented security camera footage of him buying the bell while vacationing with his wife and children.
Under the conditions of his release, the man was permitted to return to Israel on Thursday but barred from again entering Turkey.
“I am happy that the mission was completed and my client is on the way to Israel,” his lawyer Nir Yaslovitz said in a statement quoted by the Walla news site.
Yaslovitz thanked President Isaac Herzog and the Foreign Ministry for helping lobby for the man’s release.
אחרי יותר מחודש בכלא בטורקיה: שוחרר הישראלי שנעצר בגלל פעמון שרכשhttps://t.co/2N5QOaeKu6 pic.twitter.com/8DNKerMYGi
— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) September 14, 2023
In 2021, an Israeli couple was detained for a week by Turkish authorities on suspicion of espionage after having photographed the residence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. The couple was released following extensive diplomatic efforts.
At the time, the release of the couple was complicated by longstanding tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem.
Relations have since warmed. Last year, Herzog met with Erdogan in Turkey, and then-prime minister Yair Lapid met with Erdogan in New York in the fall.
A planned trip of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with Erdogan in Turkey, which would have been a first since 2006, was postponed following the premier’s pacemaker implantation surgery.
The two are now set to meet next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Israeli sources told The Times of Israel on Thursday.