Officials in Turkey say they recovered six stolen bibles, handwritten in Hebrew, in anti-smuggling operation on Thursday.

The items, which were described as historical artefacts, were seized in the western city of Uşak.

A single photograph released by the local gendarmarie's Counter Smuggling and Organised Crime unit — known by its Turkish initials KOM — showed what appeared to be six aged books with decorative motifs on their covers in a row.

Two people were detained on suspicion of smuggling the items after the two vehicles they were driving were traced from the southern Turkish province of Hatay, close to the Syrian border.

Hatay province includes the town of Antakya, also known as Antioch, which is home to a small Turkish Jewish community of around 25 people.

Turkey’s 2,600-year-old Jewish community numbers approximately 17,000 people, with the vast majority of members living in Istanbul.

The official Anadolu Agency quoted a KOM statement as saying the items had been handed over to the “relevant authority”, but did not elaborate.

It added the suspects were still being questioned in custody.