31.01.2025 14:00
In the city center of Antalya, it has been determined that the heirs of Havva and Ayşe, daughters of Arab Suleyman, who own one-third of nearly 4,000 acres of land valued at over 6 billion dollars, had their request for a re-evaluation of the heir list rejected. However, this decision was overturned by a higher court. Concerns about potential changes to property records in Antalya and the presence of fake heirs have caused confusion.
The Antalya 1st Civil Court of Peace ruled in 1992 that Arap Süleyman (Hacı Süleyman), Hacıbekirzade Hacı Mehmet Ağa, and the Treasury were equal primary shareholder heirs of approximately 4,000 acres of land, which includes some of the city's most valuable parks, public buildings, 5-star hotels, sports facilities, and around 10,000 residences in the Meltem and Bahçelievler neighborhoods, as well as Konyaaltı Beach Park. The Antalya Cadastre Court also conducted a land determination regarding this decision.
FAKE HEIRS HAVE BEEN CREATED
In 2011, it was revealed that among the three shareholders of the land, which is said to be worth over 6 billion dollars today, there were fake documents used to remove Balbeyli Havva and her daughter Ayşe from the list, who are heirs of Arap Süleyman. As a result of investigations into the heirs of Arap Süleyman's daughter Ayşe, it was determined that those coming from this line were not on the heir list, and that another Havva was shown in the documents through forgery instead of Havva, creating fake heirs. The lawyers of the parties applied to the Antalya Cadastre Court for the renewal of the decision made by the Antalya 1st Civil Court of Peace in 1992 regarding Balbeyli Havva and Ayşe. The Antalya Cadastre Court rejected this request.
THE REJECTION DECISION WAS OVERTURNED ON APPEAL
The plaintiffs' lawyers appealed the Antalya Cadastre Court's rejection decision. The Antalya Regional Court of Appeals 8th Civil Chamber overturned the decision of the Antalya Cadastre Court. The lawyers stated that a request for the reinstatement of the trial was made based on the new heirship document, and they evaluated: "After the decision was appealed by the representatives of the parties, the Antalya Regional Court of Appeals 8th Civil Chamber decided to accept the appeals and to annul the first instance court's decision and send the file back to the first instance court. In the current situation, it will be possible for the Cadastre Court to reinstate the trial based on the annulment of the inheritance certificate and to establish a new ruling, and changes in the owners and ownership shares in the existing title deed records will occur."
AFTER THE REPORT, IT WAS UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WAS NOT AN HEIR
On the other hand, Hüsnü Yiğit, who claimed to be an heir and worked at the General Directorate of State Archives, filed an inheritance certificate case in the Antalya 4th Civil Court of Peace in 2011. Upon the court's request, a report was prepared by expert witnesses. In the report prepared by examining all Sharia records in Ottoman Turkish and all inheritance certificates issued to date, Ayşe, the daughter of the first wife, and Mehmet Ali, Osman, Hacı Necip, and daughters Zeliha and Havva from the second wife were shown as the heirs of Arap Süleyman. The report also specified the lineages of these 6 names. The expert report revealed that Hüsnü Yiğit's ancestry was not an heir.
THIS CASE ALSO WENT TO APPEAL
During the ongoing inheritance certificate case in the Antalya 4th Civil Court of Peace, Hüsnü Yiğit was given time to pay the costs of serving the expert report. Yiğit, who was indicated as a fake heir in the expert report, did not pay this expense, and thus the case was dismissed. The requests of other intervening representatives and defendants to pay the litigation costs were also not taken into account by the court. The intervening plaintiffs, who are heirs from Ayşe's line, appealed the decision. The appeal process regarding the Antalya 4th Civil Court of Peace's decision is ongoing.
ALL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS MAY BE STOPPED
The lawyers of the Ayşe line heirs also made the following evaluation: "According to the result of the inheritance certificate case of the Antalya 4th Civil Court of Peace, if the inheritance certificate is reissued and Arap Süleyman's daughter named Ayşe is included in the inheritance, it will be possible for the existing title deed records to change, leading to a decrease in the share of Arap Süleyman's heirs as seen in the title deed records, and consequently, all ongoing expropriation cases and all construction projects may be halted."