ANKARA, Turkey, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A young Turkish woman who was placed with a German family when she was 12 is now in Turkey with her biological mother, officials say.
Elif Yaman had not seen her mother for three years, Today's Zaman reported. They were reunited Wednesday at a hotel in Sakarya province.
The mother was living in Germany seven years ago when child welfare officials decided she was unable to care for her daughter because she did not have enough money. The girl was placed with a Christian family and the mother deported.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag helped the young woman get a visa and a plane ticket.
Yaman said that while she does not speak Turkish she was able to practice Islam.
"I was visiting mosques and learned how to read the Koran there," she said at a news conference.
