Man ‘blessed’ with world’s longest nose dies: 75-year-old Turk boasted a 3½-inch snout… and claimed it gave him a ‘special’ sense of smell
- Mehmet Özyürek was awarded the Guinness World Record three times
- He suffered a heart attack last week before undergoing brain surgery.
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A Turkish man who was awarded the title of having the world’s longest nose has died.
The judges ruled that Mehmet Özyürek’s nose was 8.8 cm (3.46 in) from bridge to tip, equivalent to the length of a playing card.
Immensely proud of his ‘special feature’, the 75-year-old also boasted that he could smell scents that family and friends couldn’t.
According to local media reports, Mr. Özyürek fell ill last week and suffered a heart attack before undergoing brain surgery.
The Turkish newspaper Mynet reported that his funeral in the northeastern Turkish city of Artvin has already taken place.
Mehmet Özyürek of Turkey claimed the award three times over the course of two decades and the judges ruled that his nose was 8.8 cm (3.46 in) from bridge to tip, equivalent to the length of a playing card. Photographed in Türkiye in April 2014

Immensely proud of his record-breaking ‘special feature’, he claimed his sense of smell was ‘different’ from others. Guinness World Records measured his nose once in 2001 in Los Angeles, again in 2010 in Italy and for the last time in 2021, to confirm that his record remains unbreakable. Pictured in Italy in 2010

According to local media reports, the record breaker fell ill last week and suffered a heart attack before undergoing brain surgery. The Turkish newspaper Mynet reported that Mr. Özyürek’s funeral in the city of Artvin, in north-eastern Turkey, has already taken place. Photographed in Türkiye in April 2014
His son Barış reportedly said, ‘I sincerely thank the people of Artvin and their fans. We have pain.
‘My father was very kind, he tried not to offend anyone. My father was not only at peace with his nose, he was at peace with his life.
Guinness World Records measured his nose once in 2001 in Los Angeles, again in 2010 in Italy, and for the last time in 2021, to confirm that his record remains untouchable.
Speaking to Guinness World Records in 2021, Mr Özyürek said: ‘I love it, this feature.
“The world likes it, Guinness World Records likes it, of course, my wife likes it too.”
He added at the time: ‘My sense of smell is different from other people.
‘I say ‘there is a smell here’. Other people say “we don’t smell that smell”. I say, “you may not smell it, but I do.”
He understood that his long nose was caused by a ‘genetic condition’.
“There was no explanation from the doctors, but I have it in my family, so my father has it, my uncles have it, I have it,” Özyürek said before his death.
However, his children do not seem to have inherited his long nose.
He said: ‘My friends used to call me Big Nose to annoy me.
‘God made me like this, there is nothing that can be done in this situation.
‘I learned to live in peace with my physique.
‘I am very happy to represent Turkey, the Black Sea or Artvin on an international scale.
He added: ‘Some become martyrs, some become prime ministers and some become record holders.’
It is unknown who will now claim the title of the longest nose in the world.
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