“Why Did Constantinople Get the Works? That’s Nobody’s Business but the Turks.” A New Approach to Cultural Property Claims and Geographic Renaming Under the 1970 UNESCO Convention

The landscape of cultural property and cultural heritage discourse is continually evolving, and the traditional means of regulating disputes must not only be adapted to the current climate but proactively address foreseeable future concerns. This Note explores the Republic of Turkey’s increasing litigiousness with regard to its reparation claims and, further, considers the notion of culture as geographic boundaries transform over the course of time. This Note will analyze the leading international cultural property treaty, the 1970 UNESCO Convention, and recommend UNESCO adopt two mandates to curb the chilling effect current litigation has had on the preservation and dissemination of cultural property and to address the ambiguities ripe within the concept of culture