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Türkiye will hold a public farewell for classical Turkish music singer Muazzez Abaci on Nov. 17.
The Culture and Tourism Ministry is finalizing the transfer of her body from the United States after she died on her birthday, Nov. 12, while visiting her daughter.
Her death led to tributes across Türkiye and renewed attention to claims about her financial legacy.
The Culture and Tourism Ministry stepped in to bring Abaci’s body back to Türkiye.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy coordinated the process with her daughter Saba Abaci and her long-time manager Taner Budak. A special team now oversees the transfer and the final arrangements for the ceremony.
Abaci traveled to the United States on Nov. 5 to visit her daughter. She suffered a heart attack and received angiography and stent treatment. Kidney complications followed, and she returned to intensive care. She remained under treatment until she died on Nov. 12 at the age of 78.
Officials announced that Abaci will receive a ceremony at the Istanbul Ataturk Cultural Center on Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. The event is expected to draw large public interest.
After the ceremony, the burial will take place in line with the family’s plans. The ministry continues to coordinate with her daughter and manager as preparations move forward.
Soon after her death, rumors claimed Abaci left behind a fortune worth $1.2 billion.
Her close friends said these claims are false and have no connection to her real financial situation. Sacit Aslan, son of the late Maksim Gazinosu owner Fahrettin Aslan and one of Abaci’s closest friends, said the numbers are unrealistic.
“As famous as Muazzez was in the late 1970s and 1980s, she never made that kind of money. She never cared about money,” he said. He added that Abaci helped people in need and sold her homes in Kalamis and Tuzla many years ago.
Accounts shared with the press said Abaci stopped performing five and a half years ago. They noted that she owned only one apartment and a small office in Atasehir and held a modest amount of money in the bank. She also shared a home with her daughter in Rochester, New York.
Her manager Taner Budak repeated the same message. “If she had billions of dollars, she would have lived in a mansion on the Bosphorus or in the most expensive areas of the United States. We worked together for 27 years. There is no such inheritance,” he said.
Abaci’s only child, Dr. Saba Abaci, is expected to be her primary heir.
She was born from Abaci’s first marriage and now works as a psychiatrist and professor in New York at the Monroe County Office of Mental Health. She lives in the United States with her husband Leonard Anderson and their daughter Sera.
Sera briefly appeared in one of Abaci’s music videos during a visit to Türkiye in 2018 and continues her studies in the United States.
Muazzez Abaci was born in Ankara in 1947 and joined Ankara Radio in 1966. She released her first record in 1973 and became a leading assolist performer in Istanbul’s major gazinos.
She recorded many well-known works, including “Vurgun” and “Sakayik,” and received the State Artist title in 1998.
She stepped away from the stage in the 2000s as the classical music scene slowed. Her final years were spent mostly in the United States with her daughter, while she remained a respected figure in Turkish music.
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