04.04.2025 16:41
A 60-year-old man in Manisa experienced the shock of his life after obtaining a certificate of inheritance following his mother's death. He discovered that he had an older brother who was 10 years his senior, but he found no other trace of his brother's existence apart from his Turkish ID number. The man, who has been engaged in a long legal battle regarding the issue, said, "If the state can't find him, how can I?"
Rıza Zeybek (60), a resident of the Şehzadeler district of Manisa, lost his mother, Fethiye Zeybek, in January 2024. After obtaining a certificate of inheritance to transfer the car registered in his mother's name to his own, Zeybek experienced the shock of his life.
LEARNED HE HAD A BROTHER AFTER 60 YEARS Rıza Zeybek, who stated that he only had a brother named Erkan, learned from the population records that he also had an older brother named Yılmaz Özkür, who is 10 years older than him. Zeybek noted that Yılmaz Özkür, born in 1955, has his mother's maiden surname. Zeybek, who has been fighting a legal battle for more than a year, said that in all investigations, the person who appeared to be his brother only had a citizenship number and no other signs of life.
"HOW CAN I FIND WHAT THE STATE COULDN'T?" Describing his plight, Zeybek said, "It has been a year and a half since my mother passed away. We are two siblings. When I received the certificate of inheritance, I learned that we had another sibling. I was shocked; I thought I had made a mistake and returned home to read it, and I was shocked. There is no one left to ask about this. After my mother died, a third sibling appeared. We didn't know about him; my mother didn't tell us anything. It came out after she passed away. This time we were shocked as well. We have no one to ask; all our elders have passed away. We don't know him, and we haven't heard anything from anyone. We went to court. We filed a lawsuit at the Manisa 1st Civil Court. The judge investigated everywhere. She looked into the population offices, municipalities, and gendarmerie, but no signs of life were found. There were 3-4 court sessions, and in the end, the judge said, 'This person does not exist; we cannot find him. You can appeal.' I said, 'How can I find this person if the state couldn't?' They told me to go to the appeal. I don't know what to do. When I ask the police, they say to apply to the court. I don't know what to do," he said.
THEY HAD CALLED HIS MOTHER TO THE MILITARY 20 YEARS AGO Zeybek recounted that about 20 years ago, during a conversation, his mother told him about a mistake related to the population records. "My mother told me a military story while we were talking 20 years ago. While living in Amasya, they called my mother to the military. They sent my uncle's military summons to my mother. There was a mix-up in the population records. My mother's name is Fethiye, and my uncle's name is Fethi. Their identities got mixed up; my uncle went and had it corrected, and he went to the military," he stated.
"WE NEITHER KNOW NOR HAVE HEARD OF SUCH A PERSON" Zeybek noted that the siblings mentioned in the certificate of inheritance emerged during the issuance of the Turkish Identity Number in 2007. "When I went to the population office in Turgutlu, a staff member told me that the Turkish Identity Numbers were issued in 2007 and that this person was registered at an address in Çobanisa at that time. No one has known about this since 2007. I am 60 years old. We neither know nor have heard of such a person," he said.
"I AM SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE MIX-UP IN THE POPULATION RECORDS" Zeybek said, "I ask the judge, if this person lives in Çobanisa, shouldn't they receive a voter card? No, they only appear in the population records. There is no record anywhere. After the Turkish Identity was issued, no one knows about it. It only appears in the population records and seems to be alive. They have not been to a hospital, have not taken medication, have no traffic fines, and no other records. If they were alive, we would find them, but there is no record anywhere. I want this person to be removed from the population records. I cannot do this. The state will find and do it. It is a problem stemming from the population records. The staff at the population office told me that there may have been a mix-up due to the similarity of surnames. I did not file a lawsuit against the population office. I went to the courthouse and filed a complaint. I don't know what to do. I have been to every place I could think of for a year and a half. Now I will go to the appeal, but I don't want to go to the appeal. The process will take a long time. The population office will look into this. The appeal will investigate the same thing. The court already asked everywhere when making this decision. I am suffering the consequences of the mix-up in the population records," he said.