In a foreign country, you can be beaten “behind bars” for the most unexpected and innocent things. A Belgian tourist who rested in Turkey was convinced of this. She only picked up a few stones, for which she was detained until further notice on charges of “smuggling archaeological artifacts”. Now she is collecting funds from all over the world to pay the bail.
Her story is presented by the Belgian mass media as follows. The tourist, Kimberly Mergits, and her fiance Warre from Duern, were on holiday in Turkey and didn’t expect their trip to end in a nightmare. A one-day excursion to Manavgat, known for its historical ruins and waterfalls, will lead to this. The tourist, without any second thought, picked up three small stones from one of the wastelands of the waterfall with the idea of placing them in her home aquarium. “One stone had flowers carved on it, and the other two looked as if they were made of marble,” the media added, noting that the couple often picked up free souvenirs from their travels, as many tourists do.
But this time something unexpected happened: the security service at the Antalya airport demanded to open the couple’s suitcase with stones. The injured tourist told reporters that she immediately opened the suitcase and told the officials that these stones “were not even near the museum.” But it did not help – the tourists refused to board, saying that they were suspected of “smuggling archaeological values”.
As a result, the tourists demanded to stay in Turkey until the investigation was completed. As they assure on the page where money is collected to help her, it can last several weeks, and tourists have to cover the costs of their stay in Turkey on their own. And there is nothing to calm down yet: according to some data, experts from the Antalya Museum have concluded that the stones have archaeological value, and that the stone with engraved flowers is an “architectural decoration”.
Tourists should be reminded that the export of “cultural and natural values” from Turkey is prohibited by law. So it is better not to take risks with “beautiful stones”.