Tuberculosis, violence, and many more! Here is Tanyeli's painful life story.

18.03.2025 13:22

Tanyeli had been battling pancreatic cancer for 2.5 years and passed away in the hospital where she was receiving treatment. Tanyeli's life was always filled with hardships. Her family fell apart when she was two years old, and she spent her childhood years in an orphanage. Additionally, she contracted tuberculosis due to neglect. Tanyeli, who suffered from violence in her family, got married at the age of 14 and became a mother at 15. This is the painful life story of Tanyeli...

The real name of Tanyeli, whose real name is Öznur Kral, had been fighting pancreatic cancer for 2.5 years and was intubated a few days ago. Tanyeli passed away at the hospital where she was receiving treatment.

Tanyeli, who had been receiving treatment in the hospital for 4 months, had stated on her social media account on February 27, "I am in the hospital, God willing, I will be discharged today or tomorrow, inshallah," regarding her health condition.

Tanyeli, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for two and a half years, lived a life full of struggle. Her parents divorced when she was only two years old. Tanyeli had to spend her childhood years in an orphanage.

Here is the life story of the famous oriental dancer that rivals movies.

GREW UP IN AN ORPHANAGE

Tanyeli, whose real name is Öznur Kral, was born in 1970. Her life has not been easy since the day she was born. Her parents were cousins, and their marriage did not last long. When she was just two years old, her family fell apart.

This led her to spend her childhood years in an orphanage.

CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS DUE TO NEGLECT

A year later, Tanyeli contracted tuberculosis due to neglect, recalling her painful days with the words, "The only thing I remember from those years is crying because I was hungry in a cold room."

"When my mother and father divorced, a woman took care of me and my siblings. However, no one came to ask about us, nor did anyone send money. The woman took us three siblings and left us at the Orphanage in Izmir. I stayed there with my siblings for a very long time. I don't even want to remember those days. Because the only thing that comes to my mind from those days is crying because I was hungry in a cold room. I contracted tuberculosis due to neglect when I was five years old. One morning I woke up coughing, and when blood came out of my mouth, I was rushed to the state hospital. I stayed in this hospital for 1.5 years. The only thing I remember from the illness and hospital periods is calling the nurse 'mother.'

MY FATHER HUNG ME BY MY FEET AND BEAT ME

The famous oriental dancer, who faced the bitter side of life, experienced violence from her family;

"After I got out of the hospital, I was always excluded. I started staying with my grandmother, then my other grandmother, and my aunt. I was dragged around because they all said, 'I can't take care of you.' This situation continued until my father came back from the military and remarried. This time, the torment of a stepmother began. My stepmother would beat me and my siblings every day because she was angry with my father. Since my father did not work, we would soak dry bread and eat it with sugar. My father literally tortured us. My siblings and I went through very heavy things. Let's say we came home a little late from the street. He would immediately hammer two nails into the door threshold, hang us by our feet with a rope so that our heads would be down, and beat us until our soles were swollen. Then he would prepare salty water for us to suffer and put our feet in that water. I never forget, we were sitting in a Greek mansion, and this mansion had a cellar. Bugs, which we called 'beef nose,' would roam inside. He would leave us there until morning. One day, my nose was broken from the beating he gave me. One day, I was 12 or 13 years old. I made pasta. Because the pasta was not cooked well, my father poured the pot over my head. I was burned all over. Even in that state, I was still getting beaten."

MARRIED AT 14

Tanyeli married Yusuf Uğur Sadıkoğlu at the young age of 14. As if marrying at such a young age wasn't enough, she experienced motherhood at 15. When her son Taylan was born, the responsibility of her life increased even more.

She was living in poverty in a shantytown. She needed to work, but what job could she do? At that time, she was working in a store in Izmir Alsancak, but the money she earned was not enough to raise her son. It was during that time that she received a proposal that would change her life. Her aunt, who sewed costumes for the stage world, told her: "Everyone knows your mother, go dance."

Tanyeli's early marriage did not last long, and she separated from Sadıkoğlu after 19 months.

ASCENT FROM IZMIR TO ISTANBUL

The oriental dancer, who drew attention with her dance, came from Izmir to Istanbul, and her real rise began here; Tanyeli describes those days as follows: One day, Ali, who was doing office work there, received a phone call. "There will be auditions for an oriental dancer to dance for Princess Margaret, go to that," he said. My dear Ayşegül chose me that day. I danced, and the next day all the newspapers wrote about me."

TURNING POINT DANCE COMPETITION

Tanyeli, who stood out with her agile figures, talks about that day she was selected; "There were very beautifully dressed orientals there. I didn't even have a shawl around my waist, and I had no money. My bones were as thin as an African's. When it was my turn, I always went to the back. Just as I was about to go out, I said, 'I'm so sorry, I forgot my shawl in the car,' but they brought a shawl from inside. My dance was different from the others. I worked a lot on Indian figures. The story in my soul had passed into my body language. That's how my life changed."

PLAYED IN ÇELİK'S CLIP

Tanyeli quickly gained great fame with her dance. At that time, she even played in the clip of Çelik, one of the most popular names in the music world. But years later, in an interview, she would say, "If I had my current mind, I wouldn't play in that clip even if they offered me a million dollars. My consciousness then is not the same as now. Life shaped me, brewed me."

HAD 4 MARRIAGES

After separating from her first marriage, Tanyeli got married again and moved to Australia in 1996. Tanyeli married Kanat Kıral in 1999. From this marriage, she had a son named Teoman, and she divorced in 2006. She married Alexandros Syropoulos in 2009 and divorced in 2011. In 2014, she sat at the wedding table with businessman İlker Sünneli from Bursa.

SHE DESCRIBED HER ILLNESS WITH THESE WORDS

Tanyeli also described the process of learning about her illness with these words:

"I went to the doctor because I had an ovarian cyst. It turned out I had pancreatic cancer. We lost my mother to the same disease. I feel lucky because my illness was diagnosed early."

While explaining how high the treatment costs were during this process, she mentioned that some companies demanded excessive amounts of money.

She also did not forget to mention the names of those who were with her during the treatment process. Tanyeli stated that Ebru Gündeş did not spare her both financial and moral support, saying, "Zara, Haluk Levent, Kenan Doğulu, Polat Yağcı, and Haluk Şentürk showed the friendship of difficult days," thanking her supporters.