Sahe Tayurak has been married three times, and has two children from her first marriage and five from her second. She lives with her youngest son Cemal Tayurak and his family in the Alipasa region of Diyarbakir.
Cemal Tayurak told the BBC that three years ago, he decided to count how many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren Sahe has.
"Three years ago she had 415 grandchildren, I'm not sure how many she has today. To find out, I would have to do the same thing I did three years ago, call around all the brothers and sisters, cousins, nephews and grandchildren, and then make a list. But I can say with confidence that in the last three years at least another 15 grandchildren have been born, and the total number exceeds 430," Tayurak said.
BBC Türkçe — En az 415 torunu olan yaşayan tarih Diyarbakırlı Şahe Nine https://t.co/6wrWmquRrk
— Servan ★ (@servansanir) 19 октября 2016 г.
Sahe's oldest son is 90, and Cemal, her youngest, is 60 years old. Her oldest grandson is 70, and the youngest is two years old. Cemal said that they don't know exactly how old Sahe is, because the local village chief only issued her identity documents after the death of her second husband.
"The village elder only issued my mother documents after a law was passed in 1945 about the registration of the rural population. He estimated her age by sight, so nobody really knows her real age. But I think she is no less than 110-115 years old. It is quite possible that she is the oldest person not only in Diyarbakir but in the whole region," Cemal said.
"The general state of my mother's health was great until last year, and I think that such a long and full life is a gift from god. Her children haven't been as lucky with their health. The oldest looks a lot older than his mother," Cemal said.
