38 Years Later, Long-distance Mother-Son Reunion

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 27 January 2019)


                             Mother and son, then and now.

Kulbarshin Dusembin (65), the Kazakhstani mother of 3 children, left
her 1-year-old son with her ex-husband Tlemes Dusembin in
Kazakhstan 38 years ago and went to live in Moldova with her two
daughters.  After one of her daughters died, in 1999 Kulbarshin hanım
migrated to Artvin's Şavşat district, where she married, became a
Turkish citizen and took the name Kadriye Tucan.

Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, her son Ural had been told that his mother
had died.  But last month a neighbor told him that she was alive and
living in Şavşat.  Through consular channels, Ural was able to reach
his long, lost mother and the two were reunited in Şavşat. Kulbarshin/
Kadriy hanım explained that "they tricked my son into thinking that
his mother was dead but one of our good neighbors told him that I
was alive so he found me.  God is great. I left my son as a baby and
he's come to me as a man." 

As for Ural, he stated that "on the way, my knees were knocking. 
I'll never let go of my mother again.  I know she didn't leave me,
she was forced to leave me.  It was tough growing up without a
mother, especially when I saw my friends hugging their mothers.
I would slink away in sadness."


     Even people in Artvin have trouble finding Şavşat...