A woman of Greek origin has become one of the richest people in Turkey after winning an 8-year legal battle over the inheritance of her late husband’s fortune.
According to the Turkish press, Marika Bahcivanoglu was the second wife of real estate mogul Salih Tatlici, whose assets were estimated to be 3 billion U.S. dollars at the time of his death in 2009.
They married in 1981 and later Marika changed her name to Nurten. The couple had a son together. When Tatlici died, he left most of his fortune to his wife and son.
However, Tatlici’s first wife — with whom he had three children — challenged the will and a court battle started that lasted eight years. After the eight-year litigation, Turkey’s Supreme Court ruled that Tatlici’s assets belong to Bahcivanoglu and her son.
Bahcivanoglu is now the official owner of highrises, villas and plots of land in Istanbul, Dubai and the U.S. According to Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, she is now the sixth richest woman in Turkey.