Gypsy girl mosaic pieces arrive home in Turkey at last

Missing pieces of the famed "Gypsy girl mosaic" finally arrived home -- in Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province -- from the U.S. on Wednesday via flag carrier Turkish Airlines.

Under a protocol signed this May by Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry and Bowling Green State University in the U.S., 12 pieces of the Roman-era mosaic were sent back to Turkey from an airport in Chicago, Illinois.

On Tuesday, the pieces landed at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, however, could not be taken to Gaziantep as some flights had been cancelled due to foggy weather conditions at Gaziantep Airport.

The pieces will be temporarily exhibited in a special case at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep. Later, they will be restored to their original place among the larger mosaic, famed for the ancient girl's haunting eyes.

The pieces were discovered in the early 1960s during unauthorized excavations in the ancient Roman town of Zeugma, and the parts were smuggled abroad.

Years later, the pieces turned up on exhibit at Bowling Green State University, after the university bought the mosaics for $35,000.