Why did Gülsen Tuncer, Arsen Hanım in Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), die, and when is her funeral?

19 September 2026 — Gülsen Tuncer, the veteran actress who played "Arsen Hanım" in Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), has died at the age of 81. Her death was announced by the Film-San Foundation; Habertürk published at 23:28 on 17 September 2026 and updated at 12:16 the next day, while Cumhuriyet published at 23:29 the same night. As Cumhuriyet described her, Tuncer was not only an actress but "a veteran actress, voice artist, lyricist, composer, art director and academic". She will be buried on Sunday 20 September 2026 at Topkapı Kozlu Cemetery following the noon prayer at Şişli Mosque. As this file was written on 19 September, the funeral had not yet taken place.

What was the cause of death?

The sources diverge here, and this file does not choose between them. Habertürk wrote that the actress "had been fighting a brain tumour for some time"; Hürriyet used the phrase "had long been fighting brain cancer". No statement from the family or a medical institution establishing the cause appears in the sources reviewed, and the Film-San Foundation's announcement does not name one either. The exact date of death is also not stated separately in the reports — since the first announcements appeared on the night of 17 September, the death appears to have occurred on or just before that date. This page relays both formulations with their sources and presents neither as established fact.

When and where is the funeral?

According to the programme relayed by Habertürk, Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, CNN Türk and Karar, Gülsen Tuncer will be laid to rest on Sunday 20 September 2026 at Topkapı Kozlu Cemetery, after the noon prayer at Şişli Mosque. The sources agree on the mosque, the cemetery and the day. No institutional attendance or separate official commemoration is mentioned in the reports. Some news sites reported the programme in the past tense ("was laid to rest"); that is not correct — as of 19 September the funeral had not yet been held.

Who announced the death?

The news came from the Film-San Foundation. Its statement read: "We pray for God's mercy upon Gülsen Tuncer, an actress of Turkish theatre, cinema and television who served as vice-chair of our Film-San Foundation in 2009-2011, and we offer our condolences to her family and to those who loved her." That the announcement came from this body is not incidental: Tuncer served the profession not only on stage but on its institutional side.

What did her colleagues say?

Some of the tributes compiled by Habertürk read as follows. Nebahat Çehre: "I am so sad… As the years pass it becomes harder to say goodbye to the people with whom we shared the same road. Dear Gülsen, I will always remember with love the beautiful days and the memories we shared. Rest in peace." Selçuk Yöntem: "I am so sad… Gülsen Tuncer will always be remembered with love, through the beautiful memories she left behind." Kerem Alışık: "Ahh my dear elder sister Gülsen, ahh... You ran without stopping down every road of art; quiet, hard-working and successful... With that warm, clean, humane heart of yours you tried to reach every shortfall, every gap." Erdal Özyağcılar: "My dear Gülsen... my friend from the conservatory. A friend, kind-hearted, a good person, an honest person. First with your stand on the side of human beings and then with your wholehearted devotion to theatre, you were an example to us all." Nilgün Belgün: "We shared the same stage for years... How much fun we used to have in the play 'Oğlum Çiçek Açtı' at the Ali Poyrazoğlu Theatre... You were an accomplished, activist actress."

Who was Gülsen Tuncer?

According to Hürriyet, she was born on 20 October 1945 in Adana; she attended İstanbul Kız Lisesi for middle school and Tarhan College in Istanbul for high school, and graduated from the Theatre Department of the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory. She trained under Yıldız Kenter and Ayla Algan. She began her professional stage career in 1968 with the play "Zilli Zarife" at the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theatre; during her conservatory years she founded the Grup 6 Theatre, later held management roles at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Tepebaşı stage and Ankara's Çağdaş stage, and presented staged readings and poetry recitals in countries including Germany, France, England and Greece. In cinema she worked as assistant director on 37 films and also in dialogue writing and production management. She taught "Stage Aesthetics" and "Acting" at the ITU Conservatory, film and theatre acting at TÜRSAK, and theatre history, acting and dramaturgy at the Sadri Alışık Cultural Centre. On TRT radio she performed poetry and radio plays.

Who was Arsen Hanım, and which series did she appear in?

Wide audiences came to know Tuncer through Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), which began airing in 2008. In the TMDB cast data used on this site her role is recorded as "Arsen Ziyagil"; the press and viewers call the same character "Arsen Hanım" or "Arsen Hala" — both describe the same person. Habertürk and Hürriyet write that Tuncer also appeared in productions such as Üç İstanbul, Bugünün Saraylısı, Çalıkuşu and Fazilet Hanım ve Kızları; because those roles are not in the TMDB cast data, they are cited here with attribution to the news source rather than as verified cast records. The spelling of her name also varies: Habertürk, Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet and Milliyet write "Gülsen Tuncer", while some sites use "Gülşen Tuncer"; this page follows the spelling used by TMDB and the major papers.

What this page does, and what is not known

This file rests only on publicly available news sources and the Film-San Foundation's announcement; nothing about the actress's private life, medical history or family has been added beyond what those sources contain. What is not known: the official description of the cause of death, the exact date and time of death, whether institutions will attend the funeral, and whether the family will issue a statement. The page will be updated after the funeral or when a statement comes from the family or an institution. The contact address for corrections or removal requests is at the bottom of the page.