Turkish man convinces wife to divorce over FETÖ links, marries lover

ISTANBUL – Dinçer Gökçe

A Turkish businessman has convinced his wife to divorce him telling her their properties would be seized if he gets arrested over links to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

But after the couple divorced, the man disappeared—only to get married to his lover.

Hayri Uğur, a 57-year-old businessman, and Hepşen Uğur were married since in 1998. The couple founded a textile company in 1995, which grew quickly and started to work with world-renowned companies. The wealth of the family is estimated to have reached 200 million Turkish Liras.

After the coup attempt in July 2016, Hayri Uğur started warning his wife that his friends were all linked to FETÖ, whom Ankara accuses of being the orchestrators of the coup attempt.

He told his wife that he might also face arrest or investigation, which may result in the seizure of their properties.

Hayri Uğur allegedly told his wife to divorce for the sake of formality, as a measure against possible problems.

Hepşen Uğur applied to a court for the procedure, thinking it would only be a formality. In her petition, it was also stated that the parties would not ask for any financial compensation from each other.

After the couple divorced officially in July 2017, they moved to the United States with their two children. He told the family that they would live in Orlando, bought a house and enrolled their children to schools there.

He also said he had to go to Turkey to deal with the procedures to move his business to the U.S.

Failing to reach her husband after he went to Turkey, Hepşen Uğur found out that he was with a woman he had been together for five years.

Hayri Uğur recently got married to the other woman.

Hepşen Uğur applied to court to reverse the previous divorce decision, stating that her former husband defrauded her and swindled possessions from her.