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Ruffa Gutierrez shocked the country as she confirmed that her marriage to the Turk Yilmaz Bektas is over.
Get your daily dose of hot gossip in this all-new addition to iGMA! Whether it's capping off yesterday's entertainment headlines or dishing a celebrity's recent issue, iGMA still has it covered! Be on the lookout for multiple updates within the day - you wouldn't want to be the last to know, would ya? So keep checking this space for what's hot and new in the entertainment world. Filipinos had a lot to talk about the past week. Aside from the elections that had just passed, people clamored for everything and anything they could get on the country’s biggest break-up: The Ruffa Gutierrez-Yilmaz Bektas Divorce. Ruffa Gutierrez shocked the country as she confirmed that her marriage to the Turk Yilmaz Bektas is over, and that an annulment process is soon to follow. After Ruffa released a statement that was supposedly worked on by both parties, Yilmaz Bektas released a following statement that refuted what the first one said. Yilmaz's statement In a letter exclusively emailed to Startalk, Yilmaz says: “I have made one of the two most important decisions in human life on the date of March 25, 2003, when I married Ruffa Gutierrez, and I owe to my wife’s father who has been supporting this excellent start. In my own lufe I followed the lead of this respectful man, who has all the characteristics and ethics of behaving decently.” “On the date of May 8, 2007, I was obliged to give the second most important decision in human life: divorce. Unfortunately, the cause of this decision was one again my wife’s close relations, and one materialist relative of her who take advantage over my wife and has poor conscience.” He stresses, “Having an affair with another person is definitely not included among the reasons. I have always been faithful in the relation I had with my wife.” Yilmaz also attributes Ruffa’s extended stay in the country without his consent and her inability to pay close attention to her family because of her personal career as reasons for his decision to call it quits. “On her announcement, Ruffa mentioned the cultural differences and out forward it as an excuse. This is strange. Moreover, the fact that she has noticed the cultural difference after seven years is even stranger. Love and truth do not have one religion, language or culture” he adds. There is a big possibility for Yilmaz to fly to the country to personally settle matters with Ruffa. In the latter part of his letter, he adds that he and Ruffa will let their attorneys handle the situation at hand. A mother's voice And if Startalk had the exclusive on Yilmaz’s side of the story, Showbiz Central brought out the big guns the following day with a live appearance by Ruffa’s mother Annabelle Rama. One of the most vocal voices in the entertainment industry, Annabelle will not be silenced during one of the most trying times for her daughter. Annabelle admits to not having seen the statement shown last Saturday on Startalk, but many people sent her text messages to ask for her reaction. The Gutierrez matriarch was only able to see the whole statement during the live airing of GMA’s newest showbiz-oriented talk show. Showbiz Central host Pia Guanio brings up that one of the reasons that Yilmaz cites in his statement is because of a materialist relative. Annabelle is quick to respond to this allegation, “Obvious naman Pia, ako na ‘yung pinapatamaan doon ano?” “Hindi ako mukhang pera,” she adds with conviction. “Siyempre wala namang nanay mangarap na ang anak nila mapangasawa ng isang lalaking walang trabaho. Lahat ng mga nanay gusto na ang ating anak (nila) ay makapangasawa ng (lalaki na may) magandang hanap-buhay. (Dapat) ‘yung lahat ng luho ni Ruffa mabibigay man lang sa kanya.” Annabelle's advice Annabelle thinks that Yilmaz is only mad at her because she was the one who made sure Ruffa doesn’t go back to Istanbul. “For one month miserable ang buhay namin sa bahay,” Annabelle admits. “Iyak ako ng iyak gabi-gabi. Si Ruffa, iyak (rin ng iyak) gabi-gabi. Kasi tuwing umaga (sasabihin niya na), ‘Mommy, I’m leaving tonight.’ Nagwawala na naman ako.” She also recalls one incident where Yilmaz was forcing Ruffa to go to the airport and she told Ruffa that if she leaves, she’ll make a scene at the airport. “Kaming dalawa lang ni Ruffa ang nakakaalam ang reason bakit ayaw ko siyang payagan bumalik sa Istanbul,” Annabelle tells Pia. Throughout the interview, she alludes to marital problems that the two were experiencing, but her daughter remains optimistic that they could fix their marriage. But Annabelle is adamant that Ruffa not return to her husband. “Sabi ko (kay Ruffa), ‘Sa nangyari sa’yo Istanbul, na pumunta ka na dito, bakit kailangan ka pang bumalik? Huwag ka nang bumalik.’” While Annabelle is happy that Ruffa has decided to divorce her husband, she also admits that she’s sad for her grandchildren. “Nalungkot ako dahil sa mga bata, maliliit pa sila. Tsaka maganda naman ‘yung pagsasama nila [Ruffa at Yilmaz] for a while.” Ruffa’s mother confesses that she didn’t like Yilmaz initially, but she learned to love him for who he was. And he did turn out to be a good husband, a good father, and he never gave problems to Ruffa. So what went wrong for the fairy tale couple? Annabelle refuses to divulge. She says that she and Ruffa have their reasons for keeping it quiet. In Yilmaz’s statement, he mentions mutual psychological and physical violence between him and Ruffa, but Annabelle refuses to comment. She maintains that it is for Ruffa to answer to, because she was not present when such “mutual psychological and physical violence” occurred. For now, Annabelle is happy that Ruffa will be staying with her here in the Philippines. And we all wait for any further developments on the Ruffa Gutierrez-Yilmaz Bektas divorce story. Check out the Yilmaz’s statement in this clip from Startalk, and Annabelle’s reaction the day after in this clip from Showbiz Central. Then, talk about the story at the iGMA forums!