Oldest woman in North Rhine-Westphalia is a Syriac, celebrating 113th birthday
AHLEN, Germany – Hazno Dülek was born in 1908 in the village of Yardo, Kfar Gauson (Gercüs), Tur Abdin, and turned 113 on the first day of this new year. Aunt Hazno lived most of her life in her home village in southeastern Turkey, and only moved to Germany in 1996 to live with her children. She has 13 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Armin Laschet congratulated aunt Hazno on New Year’s Day with a personal letter: “In 2021 Hazno Dülek will be 113 years old. This is a proud age that very few people around the world reach, and I am happy to congratulate what is probably the oldest woman in North Rhine-Westphalia on her birthday,” said Laschet. “Whether the horrors of two world wars, the end of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Republic of Turkey or the reconstruction of Europe… these are not abstract events in history for Hazno Dülek, but she personally witnessed these historical events. I have great respect for her long and outstanding life experience,” he added.
Aunt Hazno spent her 113th birthday in private with her family.