Inheritance disputes in Turkey often reveal more than just arguments over money. They expose deep-seated tensions over identity, social standing and family power. The case of Sevgi Sabancı, for example, showed how women in patriarchal societies face systemic inequities when it comes to inheritance and legitimacy.
The Tatlıcı family dispute is another such story. The late Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı’s decision to leave most of his fortune to his second wife, Nurten Tatlıcı, and their son, Uğur Tatlıcı, set off a legal battle that continues today. This second piece explores Mehmet Salih’s rise from poverty to wealth, his controversial marriage to Nurten Tatlıcı, and how his choices after death exposed the fault lines within his family and Turkish society.
From sweets to an empire
Salih Tatlıcı was born in 1931 to a poor family in Diyarbakır. At nine years old, he began working alongside his father, selling sweets in a small shop. Over the decades, he built a real estate empire that stretched from Turkey to the United States.
But his life story took its turn in how he chose to divide his estate. Salih Tatlıcı’s will, which allocated the bulk of his wealth to Nurten and Uğur Tatlıcı, caused one of Turkey’s most public and contentious inheritance battles to start.
A marriage that defied convention Salih and Nurten Tatlıcı’s story
Nurten Tatlıcı’s role in the inheritance begins in the 1970s. Then 17, she worked as a cashier at the first Tatlıcılar pastry shop in Istanbul. Despite a significant age gap and societal disapproval, she and Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı formed a lasting bond. Their relationship led Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı to leave his first wife, Bedriye, with whom he reportedly had already a strained marriage.
Bedriye Tatlıcı’s story, however, starts much earlier. At 15, Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı was pushed into marriage with his cousin Bedriye Tatlıcı. The marriage was not one of choice but of tradition, a common practice in many parts of Turkey and the wider region. Child marriages, especially between relatives, often come with serious consequences. In Mehmet Salih and Bedriye’s case, six of their nine children reportedly died due to consanguinity.
For young women like Bedriye Tatlıcı, such marriages mean the end of childhood and the start of a life defined by duty.
Nurten Tatlıcı’s struggle for acceptance
Nurten Tatlıcı, born into a modest Greek Orthodox family, faced prejudice from both the Tatlıcı family and Turkish society. Her relationship with Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı, a Muslim man much older than her, drew criticism and, according to some accounts, opposition from her own relatives. Yet she remained a constant in Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı’s life, eventually becoming a central figure in his personal and professional world.
Wealth, ambition, and family fracture
By the 1980s, Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı had become one of Turkey’s wealthiest men, with holdings in real estate and chocolate manufacturing. But his success coincided with growing problems within his family.
Nurten, who had carved out her own role in the business, became a focal point for resentment. In 1988, Salih took the controversial step of disinheriting two of his sons, Ali and Ahmet Tatlıcı, following disputes reportedly linked to his relationship with Nurten Tatlıcı. Mehmet Tatlıcı, another son, received only the legal minimum share required by Turkish law. Nurten and Uğur Tatlıcı were named as the primary heirs.
A will, a death, and a legal battle
Salih Tatlıcı died in February 2009 while undergoing cancer treatment in London. His death set off a legal struggle over his estate, which included iconic properties such as the Salih Tatlıcı Yalı in Yeniköy, Tat Towers, and estates in Miami.
The children from Mehmet Salih Tatlıcı’s first marriage challenged the will, arguing that Nurten and Uğur Tatlıcı had unduly influenced their father. The courts ultimately upheld the will’s validity, but the legal fight has dragged on and prolonged the family’s public and private conflict.
Legacy and the weight of expectation
Nurten Tatlıcı’s journey from a young cashier to a woman at the center of a high-stakes inheritance battle is one example of societal attitudes toward women, ambition, and wealth. Her story, like that of Sevgi Sabancı, challenges traditional narratives about who deserves to inherit and why.