GAZIANTEP — The United States returned a missing piece of the 'Gypsy Girl' mosaic to Turkey on May 29, 2026. Turkish Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the repatriation in a social media post that same day.

“We have successfully brought back to our country from the United States another missing piece of the ‘Gypsy Girl’ mosaic, the iconic symbol of Zeugma, the pride of Gaziantep.” Ersoy said. The returned fragment is the 13th section of the mosaic to be recovered by Turkey.

The 'Gypsy Girl' mosaic was first discovered nearly 30 years ago by Turkish archaeologists during excavations in the ancient city of Zeugma, located near the modern city of Gaziantep. Zeugma was founded by one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Upon discovery, archaeologists realized that several mosaic pieces bordering the 'Gypsy Girl' were missing.

Those missing pieces were illegally excavated and smuggled out of Turkey in the 1960s. Bowling Green State University in Ohio later acquired the fragments and displayed them until 2012. The university returned its holdings to Turkey in 2018.

The mosaic depicts a woman with frizzy hair tied back with a scarf, a narrow forehead, high cheekbones, and a round face. Its popular name derives from the earrings worn by the figure, though scholars believe she represents one of Dionysus’s maenads.

Ersoy emphasized Turkey’s ongoing commitment to recovering cultural property. “We will continue to track the traces of our cultural assets wherever they may be in the world and to protect our civilizational heritage.”

Turkey has pursued the return of looted antiquities through diplomatic and legal channels for decades, with a particular focus on items removed during periods of weak regulatory oversight. The 2018 return from Bowling Green State University followed a formal request by the Turkish government citing documentation of the mosaic’s origin.