Ayla
Movies
A love that shines like moonlight in the dark nights of Korea… The miraculous father-daughter story of a Turkish soldier and an orphaned Korean girl whose bond blossomed amid the horrors of war and miraculously reunited after 60 years. A true epic. Real tears.
Table of Contents
Plot
It’s 1950, right in the middle of the Korean War. Young Turkish sergeant Süleyman Dilbirliği (İsmail Hacıoğlu) finds a terrified, orphaned 5-year-old Korean girl during a night patrol. The child is so traumatized she can’t even speak. Süleyman carries her back to the brigade, nurses her to health, and names her “Ayla” — “She has a face as bright as the moon; I found her under moonlight.”
Little Ayla quickly becomes the mascot and joy of the entire Turkish brigade. A real father-daughter bond forms between her and Süleyman. She starts calling him “Appa” (Daddy in Korean), and he loves and protects her like his own daughter. For 15 months, they cling to each other in the harshest conditions of war.
But the war ends, and the Turkish brigade receives orders to return home. Süleyman desperately tries everything to take Ayla with him, but 1950s Korean laws and international regulations make it impossible. A heart-wrenching separation takes place. Ayla is left at an orphanage, and Süleyman returns to Turkey in tears, believing they will never see each other again — yet they promise to meet one day.
The film doesn’t end there. Sixty years later, in the 2010s, elderly Süleyman (Çetin Tekindor) is still searching for Ayla. With the help of journalists and officials — just as it happened in real life — the search for reunion begins…
Real People & Actors
Süleyman Dilbirliği
Real Person (1926–2017)
Turkish sergeant and Korean War veteran.
Found a 5-year-old orphaned Korean girl in 1951 and named her Ayla.
Became her father on the front lines for 15 months; the entire brigade protected her.
Couldn’t bring her to Turkey; never forgot her for 60 years.
Reunited with Ayla at age 84 in 2010.
İsmail Hacıoğlu
Actor (Young Süleyman)
Played young Süleyman in the 2017 film with an outstanding performance.
The emotional scenes reduced audiences to tears.
The film broke box-office records in Turkey and was submitted for the Oscars.
Kim Seol (Ayla)
Real Person (1946–)
The real Ayla, orphaned at age 5 during the Korean War.
Raised among Turkish soldiers from 1951–1952; they all called her their daughter.
Adopted after the war and renamed Kim Seol.
Reunited with Süleyman in Ankara in 2010 after 60 years.
Ko Eun-min
Child Actress (Little Ayla)
Played 5–6-year-old Ayla in the 2017 film.
Her heart-wrenching “Appa!” cries in the farewell scene remain unforgettable.
A rising child star from South Korea.
The True Story of Ayla (100% Based on Real Events)
In 1950, when the Korean War broke out, Turkey sent a brigade under the United Nations banner. The Turkish Brigade fought in bloody battles like Kunuri and Kumyangjang-ni.
One night in 1951, Sergeant Süleyman Dilbirliği from Ankara found a trembling 5-year-old girl alone in a ruined village. She was so traumatized she couldn’t speak. He carried her on his back to the brigade.
They first wanted to name her Ayşe, but Süleyman said, “She has a face bright as the moon; I found her under moonlight,” and named her Ayla. Her real name was never known.
Ayla soon became the mascot of the entire Turkish Brigade:
- Soldiers shared their rations with her,
- Tailors sewed tiny uniforms for her,
- Doctors treated her,
- Everyone called her “my daughter,”
- And Süleyman became her real father — she started calling him “Appa!”
For 15 months, Ayla lived among Turkish soldiers in the middle of war. Photos from that time still exist: Ayla smiling on soldiers’ shoulders and laps.
In 1952, when the brigade received orders to return to Turkey, Süleyman fought desperately to take Ayla with him. He even lied about being married to adopt her, but it was impossible under Korean and international law at the time.
The farewell scene at Ankara Station is heartbreaking: Ayla clinging to his neck, crying “Appa, don’t go!” Süleyman boarding the train in tears.
Back in Turkey, Süleyman married and had children, but never forgot Ayla. Every year on her birthday he wrote “To my daughter Ayla” on a cake and cried looking at her photos.
Ayla grew up in an orphanage, was later adopted by a Korean family, and became Kim Seol. She never forgot Süleyman either — she told her children and grandchildren about her “Turkish father.”
Reunion After 60 Years (2010)
In the 2000s, with documentaries about Korean War veterans, South Korean and Turkish authorities stepped in.
In 2010, Süleyman (84) and Ayla/Kim Seol (62) found each other.
Their first reunion took place in Ankara. When the door opened, Ayla ran and threw herself into Süleyman’s arms, crying “Appa!” He hugged her back, sobbing “My daughter!” Photos and videos of that moment still bring tears to everyone who sees them.
Süleyman passed away in 2015; Kim Seol is still alive (79 as of 2025) and continues to visit Turkish veterans in Turkey.
Why You Should Watch
10 powerful reasons approved with tears by over 5 million people:
- Because it’s 100% a true story
- Because it makes you cry… in the best way
- Because it shows humanity’s victory in the darkest days of war
- Because it’s the most beautiful proof of Turkish-Korean brotherhood
- Because the acting is phenomenal
- Because it was Turkey’s official Oscar submission in 2017
- Because it’s family-friendly
- Because you’ll want to hug your loved ones tighter afterward
- Because the reunion scene really happened in real life
- Because a story like this will never happen again
Every emotional moment you see has photographs, witnesses, and documents.
One of the most tear-jerking films in Turkish cinema history.
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