Turkish Billionaire's Maid Discovers After Decades That She Is His Daughter
In a dramatic story whose repercussions spanned nearly 75 years, Turkish citizen Kalbiye Sağlam succeeded in proving that the businessman she had worked for in his home for many years was her biological father, bringing her legal battle to a close with her official registration as a member of his family and recognition as one of his heirs. The details of the story date back to the 1950s in the Turgutlu district of Turkey’s Manisa province, when Ümit Etyüz, aged 21, had an illicit relationship with Niyazi Özmez, who was then 16 years old. She was subsequently married to Anur Zorlukaia, who worked as a guard at a brick factory. According to reports in the case, the child was registered under the surname of the family that held the title of her mother’s husband. In an attempt to conceal the relationship, the truth about her biological father remained hidden for many years, while her mother began working at the factory, taking on duties such as serving tea and cleaning.
As the years passed, Sağlam found herself working for the Özmez family, unaware that the man she served in his home was her biological father. Sağlam married at the age of 14 and moved to Manisa, but her life took a new turn after her husband’s death when she was 28. She later returned to Turgutlu with her two children and resumed working for Niyazi Özmez, whom she believed to be a distant relative. Over the years, she worked in Özmez’s home, shop, and summer house in Çeşme, without knowing the truth, which her mother had carried until her death in 1996.
In 2022, Niyazi Özmez revealed the secret that had been hidden for decades during a dinner meeting with Sağlam at a restaurant in Turgutlu, confirming to her that he was her biological father. The shock was immense for Sağlam, who decided to seek legal recourse to officially establish her paternity. Following Özmez’s death later that same year at the age of 88, the court ordered the extraction of tissue samples from his corpse, as well as samples from the grave of Sağlam’s father, Ümit Etyüz, to conduct the necessary tests. Analyses conducted by the Izmir Forensic Medicine Institute showed that Özmez was Sağlam’s father with a match probability of 100%. The test report was submitted to the Second Family Court of Turgutlu, which reviewed the case and legally confirmed the paternity.
Under the ruling, Kalbiye Sağlam was officially registered in Niyazi Özmez’s family record, bearing his surname, thereby becoming the businessman’s fourth daughter and entering the circle of his legal heirs. Sağlam has become a legal partner in her late father’s assets, with her estimated wealth valued at approximately one billion Turkish lira.
