23.09.2025 13:21
The chain of errors that began with the incorrect recording of his name and gender at birth has led 59-year-old Ersin Akbaş to be known by five different names throughout his life. His case, which was previously rejected due to the inability to access records for his retirement, has been reopened after he presented a document to the court showing that he was registered with Bağ-Kur in 1992.
Ersin Akbaş, who is 59 years old and was registered as a girl with the name Ergün at birth, has had his life turned into a complete chaos due to a chain of mistakes made by different institutions. The objection to the birth registration was corrected shortly after, but the errors continued throughout his school life. Akbaş received his primary school diploma under the name Ersun, and although he objected, his name was written as Ergin on the second diploma he received. Ersin Akbaş, who served in the military for 18 months under his own name between 1986-1987, was called up for military service again after the mobilization due to the Gulf crisis in 1990, and he completed his second military service under the name Ersün.
LIVED WITH 5 DIFFERENT NAMES
Throughout 59 years, Akbaş has lived with the names Ergün, Ersun, Ergin, Ersün, and finally his current identity as Ersin Akbaş. The difficulties he faced due to his name continued in social security premium payments and job search processes. Most recently, dreaming of retirement, Akbaş filed a lawsuit through his lawyer at the Antalya 9th Labor Court for name determination and insurance entries. In the response to the letter sent to Zonguldak SGK, it was stated that there was no record of tax liability for his mother Şerife Akbaş, whom Ersin Akbaş claimed to have worked with during the specified dates.
REACHED A DOCUMENT SAID TO BE NON-EXISTENT WITH HIS OWN MEANS
Based on the report presented by the court expert, the court decided to reject the case, leaving the way open for appeal. Finally, with his own means, he obtained a document from the Zonguldak Çaycuma Tax Office stating that he worked with his mother under the name Ersin Akbaş and that he was a tax payer. The document showed a start date of employment on 01.05.1992 and a termination date of 31.12.1997. After receiving the document, Akbaş handed it to his lawyer, and his dream of being able to retire was revived, while the appeal court decided to review the case again. In the first hearing of the case held recently, the court wrote a letter to the institutions to obtain SGK registration documents.
THE COURT WROTE A LETTER TO THE INSTITUTIONS
Ersin Akbaş's lawyer, Nuray Ertem, stated that the postponed case, which was set for two months later, was a new hope for them, saying, "We filed a lawsuit for the proof of Ersun's insurance due to the mistakes made in his birth years, which caused 5 different names to be written in different institutions. Since the necessary documents were not sent to us by the relevant institutions, and they were dismissed as non-existent, our case was initially rejected. Later, we obtained them externally and requested the reinstatement of the trial with these documents. The court accepted these as new evidence and decided to reinstate the trial. In the last hearing we attended, it again wrote a letter to the relevant institutions to obtain SGK registration documents."
"A NEW HOPE HAS ARISEN FOR US"
Ertem stated that with the records to be received from the institutions, it would be proven that Ersin Akbaş had the right to retire, saying, "If responses are provided to these, we will prove that Ersun's name is Ersin and that the start date of his insurance is much earlier than what is seen in SGK records, and that he has the right to retire. A new hope has arisen for us. The name has been clarified, but despite the name change, the names in SGK, the military branch, and other institutions have not been synchronized and corrected in the same way, so this problem still continues and reflects in different ways," she expressed.
UNABLE TO RETIRE DUE TO NAME CONFUSION
Ersin Akbaş, who stated that he could not retire despite his retirement age being reached due to the name confusion, said, "We are trying to find the insurance among the 5 names, to consolidate the insurances. We have found all the documents, my lawyer submitted them to the court. We even wrote to the Presidency for the investigation of the documents. The court accepted that too. Now we are waiting for the result. We do not know what will happen next. But we have started to ask for justice for rights, humanity for people, and mercy from the state. It is very difficult to walk around like a dead person living like this. I am 59 years old, my retirement age has passed. How many more years can I live, how many years can you estimate my life? We are waiting for our death, either today or tomorrow. We have lived in this world, we have reached 60 years, we are struggling to at least retire," he said.
Akbaş stated that instead of correcting all 5 names, only Ersün was corrected to Ersin, and he said that despite 15 years passing, he could not retire, saying, "In 1984, I was working as a worker with my mother as Ersun Akbaş. I got lost in the documents of the population. I worked as a worker with my mother as Ersun Akbaş. In 1991, I was a tax payer under my own name, and in 1996, we went to pay our total debt. I saw that my name had been changed to Ersün. I went to the military as Ersin Akbaş. In 2006, I filed a lawsuit to become Ersin Akbaş. I won the case in Çaycuma, but instead of correcting all 5 names, they only changed Ersün to Ersin. The Ersüns got lost. Normally, 15 years have passed, but we still cannot retire. My 15 years have passed without retiring," he said.