Turkey's first Nobel laureate, author Orhan Pamuk, tied the knot with Aslı Akyavaş in Istanbul at noon today. Pamuk, 69, and Akyavaş, 47, had been together for 10 years.

One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, Pamuk's books have been translated into over 60 languages and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. His books "Benim Adım Kırmızı" ("My Name Is Red") and "Kar" ("Snow") became the most translated and read Turkish works in history.

On Oct. 12, 2006, the Swedish Academy announced that he had been awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in literature. On Pamuk, the academy said: "In the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city, he has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures."

In 2012, Pamuk also opened the Museum of Innocence in a 19-century house in Istanbul, as a companion to his novel of the same name. In 2014, it won the European Museum of the Year Award.

Akyavaş, a graduate of Boğaziçi University's Department of International Politics, is, on the other hand, known in the health care community for her leadership in the institutionalization of "health tourism" in Turkey.

The couple's wedding ceremony was held within the family due to the COVID-19 pandemic conditions.