Ersoy announced and introduced the statue by holding a press conference at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, a day after the statue was brought back to Turkey from the United States.

The sculpture was discovered in the 1960s in the Afyonkarahisar province, western Turkey, during the construction of a road. But it was later smuggled and sold in Israel, according to Ersoy.

The minister said that Turkey was recently informed that the antiques entered the United States to be sold at an auction house.

"We asked the officials there to stop the resales," he said. The Turkish authorities have presented a scientific document proving that the statue is of Anatolian origin. 

Cybele is worshiped as the Mother Go‌ddess, a symbol and protector of fertility, abundant in the Mediterranean basin, especially Anatolia since prehistoric times, according to historians.

The lions on either side of the statue show Cybele’s dominance over nature and animals, a recent article published on an archaeological news platform said.

Turkey’s minister said the statue will be on display at a new museum to be built in Afyonkarahisar in the near future.