THE distraught father and stepmother of a 15-year-old girl who has been refused a visa to live with them in Whitefield have spoken of their battle to reunite the family.

Yudum Akturan, who lives in Turkey with her grandparents, is said to be distraught after the ruling by the Home Office.

Her father Ilhan, who recently opened the La Villa cafe in Bury New Road, Prestwich, and her stepmother Tracey, have also been left devastated.

Yudum is Mr Akturan's daughter from a previous marriage, and her mother has emigrated to Morocco with her new husband.

She is now living with her grandparents, Mr Akturan's ex-wife's parents.

Yudum has visited the UK during the school holidays on several occasions in the past few years and successfully gained temporary visas, and Mr and Mrs Akturan did not think that obtaining a permanent visa would be a problem.

They believed they had completed all of the necessary forms, but the refusal letter says there is not enough evidence to show how Yudum is related to her stepmother, and that there is no evidence to prove that she has kept in contact with her father since 2010.

The couple say that they constantly keep in touch with her, and that she is as much a part of the family as her half-sister Molly, the couple's six-year-old child, who attends Mersey Drive Primary School in Whitefield.

They have even extended their house in Rothay Drive from a two-bedroomed to a three-bedroomed house, to create a space for her.

In addition, they send her money via her grandparents to make sure she has all she need, in terms of clothes and school equipment.

Mrs Akturan, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year and was forced to retire from her job of more than 30 years at the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Initially, when she submitted her papers, she was very upset because she thought it would be granted there and then.

"Because of that, when she received the letter saying she had been refused entry she didn't open it for a while, so the appeal period has run out.

"She is in a really bad place now. We got a message through from her uncle saying that she is seeing a psychiatrist, and that she has been threatening suicide. She is out of control, and it is terrible not being there to help."

The visa application cost the couple £1,000, and they say they cannot afford to seek help from a solicitor after already spending so much money on a failed application.

Mr and Mrs Akturan have been together for nine years after meeting while she was on holiday in Turkey with a friend.

They married in Turkey in 2007, and Mr Akturan, aged 42, later moved to the UK and settled with his new wife in Whitefield, and set up the cafe - which is named after the place they met - a few weeks ago.

Mr Akturan split with his ex-wife when Yudum was 14 months old, and had no contact with her for some years, before being granted visiting rights.

His ex-wife re-initiated contact after hearing of his marriage to Tracey, which is when the couple decided to fight to have Yudum in their lives.

Mrs Akturan, aged 48, added: "We decided that it was important that Yudum was part of our family, I adore her and she adores me. Her mother has washed her hands of her.

"I don't understand why she isn't being allowed to be with her family."

ENDS