Antalya man fathering Russian national for 28 years

ANTALYA

A 77-year-old man living in the Mediterranean province of Antalya has been a father figure to a Russian national, whom he came across while serving in Turkish Cyprus 28 years ago.

Ahmet Büyüközdemir learned that 12-year-old Vladislav Nelbuyin, a child of a Russian family residing in Turkish Cyprus, was living in a coffee house after his father passed away.

Büyüközdemir, who never got married or had children, accepted Nelbuyin like his own son and taught him Turkish.

Nelbuyin, moved by the approach of Büyüközdemir towards him, became a Muslim and even adopted the name of Büyüközdemir’s grandfather, Hüseyin.

After a while, he left home and got married to a Moldovan woman 10 years ago.

After attending Nelbuyin’s wedding at Chisinau, Büyüközdemir later settled in Antalya.

He also gifted Nelbuyin his house in Antalya.

Büyüközdemir often travels abroad to see Nelbuyin and his children, who also come to visit him in the resort town every year for a month.

“He is now my son. He turned out to be a very smart kid. He learned Turkish in a short time and started to mingle with everyone. I wanted to adopt Hüseyin, but the laws did not allow it,” Büyüközdemir said, adding that his mother found them a few months later, but when she saw Hüseyin’s happiness, she let him stay.

“Hüseyin is a son to me, and I became a father to him. Now I even have grandchildren. They do not speak Turkish, but every year when they come to Turkey, they run and hug me saying, ‘Ahmet grandfather,’” Büyüközdemir said.