Turkey receives 13th panel of 'Gypsy Girl' mosaic from US

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced that the 13th panel of the ancient “Gypsy Girl” (Çingene Kızı) mosaic, dating to the 2nd–3rd century AD, has been returned from the United States and installed in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep. The panel, part of a large Roman-era floor mosaic discovered at the Zeugma site, was identified through scientific research by Dr Camila Felag (Grenoble Alpes University) and Prof. Kutalmış Görkay, and its illicit sale was tracked via an online auction platform. After the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s investigation confirmed its provenance, the panel was handed over to the Turkish consulate in Chicago and shipped to Turkey.

Ersoy said, “We are delighted to bring the 13th panel of the Gypsy Girl mosaic to our museum,” emphasizing that the return illustrates successful scientific, legal and diplomatic cooperation between Turkey and the United States. The panel joins twelve others that were repatriated in 2018, completing a significant portion of the original mosaic and filling a long‑standing gap in the collection. The minister also referenced the 2021 Turkey‑U.S. cultural‑property agreement, now renewed for another five‑year term, which underpins ongoing efforts to return illicitly exported artifacts.