One way of thinking about cultural property—i.e., objects of artistic, archaeological, ethnological or historical interest—is as components of a common human culture, whatever their places of origin or present location, independent of property rights or national jurisdiction. That is the attitude embodied in the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of May 14, 1954 (hereinafter “Hague 1954”), which culminates a development in the international law of war that began in the mid-19th century.

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Ambassador to the Sublime Porte2 of the Ottoman Empire, removed many of the surviving sculptures on the Parthenon and shipped them to England. He sold them in 1816 to the British Museum, where they are now displayed and are known as "The Elgin Marbles. " 3 In 1983 the Greek Government, represented by Melina Mercouri, the famous actress who is also the Greek Minister of Culture, requested that the Elgin Marbles be returned to Greece. 4 The plea has been made before, 5 but Minister Mercouri's appears to be the first official request by the Greek Government for return of the Parthenon sculptures. 6 The current request was officially declined by the British Government in 1984. 7 There is, of course, support within Britain for the Greek cause. Neil Kinnock, Labor Party leader, has urged return of the Marbles on moral grounds. 8 There is a "British Committee for the Restitution of the Marbles." 9 Minister Mercouri has carried her campaign outside England 10 and has pursued it with great eloquence and passion. 11 The 2. The Western powers used the term "Sublime Porte" to refer to the Government of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople. See l s. SHA w, HISTORY OF THE OTr0MAN EMPIRE AND MODERN TuRKEY 119 (1976). The Sultan was the supreme Ottoman authority, with absolute authority over subjects and property in the empire, subject only to the restraints of Islamic law.