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Esas Holding Chair and Pegasus Airlines owner Ali Sabanci and former Hurriyet Board Chair and Aydin Dogan Foundation Vice Chair Vuslat Dogan announced that they have ended their 29-year marriage, sharing a joint message and a photo on social media.
They said they had faced strains in recent years and, despite trying to “meet in the same season,” they could not bridge the gap. The couple stressed that they part ways without any financial claims against each other and that they will remain lifelong friends.
“29 years later, we have decided to end our marriage,” they wrote, adding that they had celebrated life together, overcome hardships, and raised “two smart, kind-hearted children.”
The pair referred to a serious boat accident near Lipsi Island in Greece in August 2023, which led to urgent treatment on Leros and subsequent transfers to Bodrum and Istanbul.
According to their account, one of them returned to normal life after a difficult three-month period, while the other began a demanding recovery expected to last two years. They said they believed the ordeal would bring them closer, but it did not. Now that they consider themselves fully recovered, they have chosen to end the marriage.
Following initial procedures on Leros—described as a six-hour operation by a team from Bodrum American Hospital working with Greek doctors—Ali Sabanci underwent further surgery on arrival in Istanbul, where doctors placed a stent in his aorta and removed his spleen due to trauma-related internal bleeding.
Vuslat Dogan received first aid on Leros for facial injuries and later underwent a 5.5-hour operation in Istanbul with trauma and plastic surgery teams.
The couple underlined three points: they never held each other responsible for the accident, they are separating without financial demands, and they remain “can dostu”—close lifelong friends.
“We thought this event would bring us closer and make us stronger. It did not,” they said, noting that they reached the decision to divorce now that they feel fully healed.
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