Suleyman Dilbirligi

Süleyman Dilbirliği (December 31, 1925 – December 7, 2017) was a retired Turkish soldier with the rank of a sergeant officer. He was a veteran of the Korean War.[1] His story with Eunja Kim, a 5-year-old girl he adopted and named Ayla, who had lost her family in the war, was the subject of the 2017 Turkish-South Korean film "Ayla: The Daughter of War".[2]

Military career and personal life

Dilbirligi went to the Korean War in 1950. There, he found a girl whose parents had been killed, whom he named Ayla, and he considered her his own daughter.[3] He intended to bring Ayla to Turkey. However, legal and political rules about adopting war orphans made it impossible for Dilbirgi to adopt Ayla.[1] So, he was forced to leave her in an orphanage.[1]

Sixty years after the Korean War, Suleyman Dilbirligi and Ayla met in Ankara Park in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.[3]

He died on 7 December 2017 at the age of 91 in Haydarpaşa Numune Training and Research Hospital due to multiple organ failure.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Redd, Wyatt (2026-06-30). "Ayla True Story: The Turkish Soldier Who Raised a Korean War Orphan". History Collection. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  2. ↑ Service (KOCIS), Korean Culture and Information. "'Ayla,' a movie based on a heart-breaking 65-year-old real-life story : Korea.net : The official website of the Republic of Korea". www.korea.net. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  3. 1 2 "Ayla ile Süleyman'ın film gibi hikâyesi" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2024-07-13. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  4. ↑ "Ayla'nın babası Süleyman Dilbirliği 91 yaşında hayatını kaybetti". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
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