Zeynep ConkarAt a ceremony in Jerusalem’s Silvan neighbourhood this week, Benjamin Netanyahu stood alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and invoked a 2,700-year-old artefact, now housed in Istanbul.
Speaking at the opening of the ‘Pilgrimage Road’ project in occupied East Jerusalem, Netanyahu proclaimed Jerusalem to be Israel’s eternal, undivided capital.
He then proceeded to remind his audience that Türkiye still possesses the artefact in question, the Silvan Inscription.
The prime minister recalled how, in 1998, he had asked then–Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz to hand it over, linking the refusal to “growing Islamic sensitivities” in Türkiye, and the rise of the then-mayor of Istanbul, now Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“This is our city [Jerusalem], Mr. Erdogan, not yours. It will always remain ours and will never again be divided,” Netanyahu said, declaring sovereignty over illegally annexed territory.
Turkish President Erdogan promptly issued a firm response, vowing that Muslims would never relinquish their rights over occupied East Jerusalem and that Al-Quds al-Sharif would remain protected from any foreign encroachment.
Experts attribute Netanyahu’s renewed focus on the archaeological artefact as political propaganda aimed at diverting global attention from his genocidal war in Gaza.
Netanyahu is turning Jerusalem’s archaeological heritage into political propaganda, according to Turkish historian Dr Selim Han Yeniacun, Assistant Professor of Political History and International Relations at Marmara University.
“At a time when the destruction and civilian deaths in Gaza have triggered international outrage and even criticism within Israel, Netanyahu brought historical and religious narratives to the forefront to consolidate his own base and maintain external support,” Yeniacun tells TRT World.
Yeniacun references Netanyahu’s May 2025 video from the ‘Pilgrimage Road’ tunnel beneath Silvan, which was purportedly released to deliver a message about the situation of hostages in Gaza.
“When Netanyahu’s earlier attempts did not produce the misleading, populist propaganda he hoped for, he staged another appearance in September 2025 at the Silvan excavation sites.”
“Netanyahu used this anecdote to imply that Jerusalem’s ancient Jewish identity is indisputable and that countries like Türkiye ignore this reality for political reasons,” Yeniacun says.
East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City as well as Siloam/Silvan, is recognised by the UN and the vast majority of states as occupied Palestinian territory.
Although Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 war, this annexation is null and void under international law.
“Whether settlement construction or expropriation under the guise of creating archaeological parks in Silvan, activities carried out by the Israeli government are illegal,” Yeniacun adds.
Why it’s important for Israel
The limestone tablet at the centre of the dispute was discovered in 1880 inside Jerusalem’s Silvan Tunnel.
Carved in paleo-Hebrew, it dates to the reign of King Hezekiah in the early seventh century BCE and recounts how workers dug a 533-metre water tunnel from opposite ends, finally hearing one another’s voices before breaking through the last wall of rock.
Built to secure a water supply during an Assyrian siege, the tunnel still carries water today and remains a tourist draw.
Shortly after its discovery, Ottoman authorities sent the inscription to Istanbul, where in 1883 it was formally registered at the Imperial Museum, now known as the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.
It has remained there ever since as a protected piece of Türkiye’s national heritage.
A replica is displayed in Jerusalem, too.
Israeli requests to repatriate the original have gone nowhere.
For the Zionist state, the inscription serves as a link between Jewish history and Jerusalem. Netanyahu has long pushed the narrative that it serves as “proof” of Israel's claim over the city and has repeatedly sought to acquire the artefact.
While the Jewish presence in Jerusalem is historically real, this does not mean, as Netanyahu seeks to suggest through distortion, that the inscription functions as a land register in any way, according to experts.
Yeniacun says that treating the holy city’s history as belonging to only one nation, especially one ruling through illegal occupation, contradicts both historical facts and the rights of other peoples living in the region.
“Archaeological and historical findings show that Jerusalem has been ruled by different peoples, empires and faiths over nearly four millennia.”
“The periods of Jewish rule are actually limited in duration compared to the city’s long history under Roman, Sasanian, Byzantine, Islamic (Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, Ottoman) and even brief Crusader control,” he says.
A long list of fruitless efforts
Netanyahu’s 1998 request is just one of many appeals by Israeli leaders over the years. The country has repeatedly tried to acquire the Silvan Inscription through various means, including temporary loan requests, unconventional offers to exchange Ottoman relics held in Israel, symbolic gestures, and, reportedly, even secret bribes.
In 2007, Israeli President Shimon Peres requested that the then-Turkish president loan the tablet to Israel for its 60th anniversary, but the request was denied.
In another episode, Jerusalem’s then-mayor proposed building a memorial for Ottoman soldiers in exchange for the inscription on loan.
In 2022, rumours circulated in Israel that Türkiye had agreed to swap the tablet for a historic Ottoman candelabrum during President Isaac Herzog’s Ankara visit; another false claim Ankara firmly denied.
There were more offers too: two elephants for Gaziantep Zoo from Israel’s culture minister, or a deal involving Sultan Suleiman’s lost inscription from Jerusalem’s walls.
None worked.
Throughout it all, Türkiye has maintained a consistent position that the Silvan Inscription is Turkish state property, legally acquired during the Ottoman era, and definitely not for sale or loan.
Since the dispute resurfaced, many Turkish historians and officials have pointed out that the inscription was transferred to Istanbul decades before the establishment of the modern state of Israel.
Yahya Coskun, former deputy head of Türkiye’s museums authority, recalled in a 2022 interview that Israeli officials approached him directly about the artefact.
“I showed them its registration date in 1883. It was transferred from Jerusalem to the Ottoman capital before the state of Israel existed. It will remain in our museum forever,” he said.
“Yes, Jerusalem is ancient and sacred to Jews, it was the site of their first temples, and it holds a central place in Jewish memory. But it is equally sacred to Christianity and Islam. Over time, different faiths ruled and left their mark on the city,” Yeniacun says.
“Excavations in the City of David reveal Canaanite-era walls, Roman columns, Byzantine mosaics, and Abbasid ceramics, all evidence of Jerusalem’s multi-layered past. There is no historical basis for claims such as ‘we built Jerusalem from scratch,” he adds.
