ATHENS – “The issue of the Parthenon Sculptures is not a dispute between the British and the Acropolis Museum. It is not even a dispute between UK and Greece. The reunification of the Parthenon Scupltures to the body they belong is an international demand. The restoration of the monument which is the universal symbol of democracy”, stated to Athens-Macedonian News Agency professor Nikolaos Stampolidis, general director of the Acropolis Museum on the ocassion of the recent statement of deputy director at the British Museum Jonathan Williams to the newspaper Sunday Times.

“The issue of the Sculptures is not bilateral, it is a matter of the international Western culture, not only of Europe but also of Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and of all the democracies”, Stampolidis said and referred to the lending issue that said to the British newspaper the deputy director of the British Museum. “Mutual borrowings are already held between the two museums but not for the claimed Parthenon Sculptures. What I want to say is that we claim the architectural Parthenon Sculptures that are part of the body of a monument. I do not call them marbles because marble is the material they are made from, but architectural sculptures of Parthenon that constitute integral part of the monument” he explained to Athens-Macedonian News Agency.