Italian Lawyer Converts To Islam, Marries Turkish Nurse
Key Takeaways
- Italian lawyer Tamara Veronica Schriber converted to Islam ahead of her marriage to Turkish nurse Tajdin Özmen
- The couple, who met at a language course in Italy, held their wedding in Özmen’s hometown of Midyat, Mardin province
- Schriber’s family and friends traveled from Italy to join the celebration, which featured traditional Midyat dances and customs
Tajdin Özmen, a nurse working in Italy, married Tamara Veronica Schriber, an Italian lawyer, in a ceremony held in his hometown of Midyat, in Mardin province, southeastern Türkiye. The pair met while attending the same language course in Italy. Schriber converted to Islam before the wedding.
How The Couple Met
Özmen and Schriber met during a language course in Italy, where Özmen works as a nurse at a health care institution and Schriber practices as a lawyer. The couple decided to marry and chose to hold the wedding in Özmen’s hometown of Midyat.
A Wedding Rooted In Tradition
Schriber’s mother, siblings, relatives and friends traveled from Italy to attend the wedding. The ceremony followed Midyat traditions, with the bride and groom opening the celebration with a first dance accompanied by drums.
Guests then joined in Midyat’s traditional folk dances, known as halay, with visitors from Italy taking part alongside local guests. The celebration also included the cutting of the wedding cake and a traditional gift presentation.
Özmen On Bringing Two Cultures Together
Özmen described the joy of celebrating his wedding in his hometown. “We are very happy to have our wedding in our beautiful Midyat. We both live in Italy, where we met at a language course. I work in health care, and my wife is a lawyer. We fell in love after meeting there. We had one wedding in Italy and another here,” he said.
“I had the opportunity to experience their culture, and now I have been able to introduce them to our own culture and beautiful Midyat,” he added.
Özmen said his wife’s family and friends did not know much about Midyat before arriving. “They didn’t know much about Midyat. They expected it to be a small village, but when they arrived, they were amazed by how many tourists visit here. They admired Midyat’s culture, nature, stone architecture and history,” he said.
“They loved it so much that although they came only for the wedding, they now want to return for a holiday. We have brought two cultures together. Midyat is already a city where different cultures live together in harmony, and I am proud to be from here,” Özmen said.
