Ömürlük dostluklar, yüzyıllarca süren bağlardır.

Ömürlük comes from ömür (life, lifetime) + the suffix -lük.

Here, -lık / -lik / -luk / -lük is a very common Turkish suffix. It can create adjectives or nouns meaning things like:

• related to
• suitable for
• meant for
• lasting for

So ömürlük means something like for a lifetime, lifelong, or lasting a whole life.

Because of vowel harmony, the suffix appears as -lük here:

• ömür → ömürlük

Yes, that is a very natural question for an English speaker.

In Turkish, dostluk means friendship, and dostluklar means friendships. Turkish can pluralize nouns in places where English might prefer a singular or an abstract uncountable noun.

So:

• ömürlük dostluk = a lifelong friendship
• ömürlük dostluklar = lifelong friendships

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about lifelong friendships in general, so the plural sounds natural.

Yüzyıl means century.

The form yüzyıllarca is built like this:

• yüzyıl = century
• yüzyıl-lar = centuries
• yüzyıl-lar-ca = for centuries / over centuries / many centuries long

The suffix -ca / -ce / -ça / -çe can add a meaning like:

• for
• over the course of
• in large amounts
• many Xs worth

So yüzyıllarca means for centuries.

It is not just a plain plural; it gives a sense of a very long span of time.

Süren is a participle form of the verb sürmek, which here means to last or to continue.

• sürmek = to last
• süren = lasting / that last(s)

In Turkish, this kind of participle works like an adjective before a noun.

So:

• yüzyıllarca süren bağlar = bonds that last for centuries

This is a very common Turkish structure:

• çok konuşan insan = a person who talks a lot
• erken gelen misafir = the guest who comes early
• yüzyıllarca süren bağlar = bonds lasting for centuries

Because Turkish very often uses participles where English uses relative clauses.

English:

• bonds that last for centuries

Turkish:

• yüzyıllarca süren bağlar
• literally: centuries-for lasting bonds

This is one of the most important patterns in Turkish. Instead of saying a separate word for that/who/which in many cases, Turkish often turns the verb into an adjective-like form.

So süren is doing the job that that last does in English.

Bağlardır consists of:

• bağ = bond / tie
• bağlar = bonds
• bağlar-dır = are bonds / indeed are bonds / are, as a general truth

The ending -dır / -dir / -dur / -dür / -tır / -tir / -tur / -tür is often called the copular or assertive/generalizing suffix.

In this sentence, it gives a tone like:

• are
• are in fact
• are generally
• can be described as

So:

• Ömürlük dostluklar, yüzyıllarca süren bağlardır. = Lifelong friendships are bonds that last for centuries.

If you said bağlar without -dır, the sentence would still be understandable, and in everyday speech Turkish often drops this ending. But bağlardır sounds a bit more formal, descriptive, or proverb-like.

Because Turkish often does not use a separate verb equivalent to English to be in simple present tense noun sentences.

English:

• Friendships are bonds

Turkish:

• Dostluklar bağlardır
• or more casually Dostluklar bağlar

The idea of are is built into the sentence structure, and sometimes reinforced with -dır.

So Turkish does not need a separate present-tense word like English are here.

Bağ literally means tie, bond, or connection.

In this sentence, it is being used metaphorically:

• not a physical rope or tie
• but an emotional or human connection

So yüzyıllarca süren bağlar means:

• bonds that last for centuries
• ties enduring for centuries

This is a very common metaphor in both Turkish and English.

The comma separates the topic/subject from the description/predicate:

• Ömürlük dostluklar = lifelong friendships
• yüzyıllarca süren bağlardır = are bonds that last for centuries

In Turkish, this kind of comma is sometimes used in formal or literary writing for clarity or emphasis, especially in definition-like sentences.

It is not always strictly necessary. You may also see:

• Ömürlük dostluklar yüzyıllarca süren bağlardır.

So the comma is mostly a stylistic choice here.

The sentence uses a very normal Turkish order for this kind of statement:

• Ömürlük dostluklar = subject/topic
• yüzyıllarca süren bağlardır = predicate

This is the most straightforward order.

Turkish word order is flexible, but changing it changes the emphasis. For example:

• Yüzyıllarca süren bağlardır ömürlük dostluklar.

This is possible, but it sounds more poetic or emphatic, not neutral.

So the given sentence is the most natural choice for a general statement.

Because the sentence is making a general statement about a whole class of things:

• lifelong friendships
• are bonds that last for centuries

Turkish often matches this kind of idea with plurals on both sides.

Compare:

• Kediler sevimli hayvanlardır. = Cats are cute animals.
• Öğretmenler önemli insanlardır. = Teachers are important people.

So dostluklar and bağlar both being plural is completely normal.

Yes. The nuance is very close.

Ömürlük can suggest:

• lifelong
• for life
• meant to last a lifetime

So ömürlük dostluklar can naturally be interpreted as:

• lifelong friendships
• friendships for life

The exact English wording may vary, but the Turkish idea is that these friendships are expected to endure for a very long time, ideally a whole lifetime.