11.07.2026 12:40
Ahmet Artan, who was mistakenly entered into the system as deceased due to a name mix-up during the February 6 earthquakes in Hatay, proved he is alive after a 40-month struggle when the error in the Ministry of Health's system was corrected. Officials called Artan on the phone and gave him the good news by saying, 'Congratulations.' With his birth date also changed from January 23 to July 10, Artan can now obtain a health report to renew his driver's license.
The earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş caused great destruction in Hatay and nearly 25 thousand people lost their lives. Ahmet Artan, 39, who was caught in the disaster of the century on the 3rd floor of his home in Narlıca Mahallesi, was rescued from his trapped home after a half-hour struggle and clung to life.
REGISTERED AS "DEAD" FOR 40 MONTHS The earthquake survivor was entered into the system as dead, mistaken for another citizen with the same first name, last name, and father's name who died in the earthquake. After the name confusion, Artan, who appeared 'dead' in many institutions, continued for 40 months to face the warning 'Person is deceased, transaction cannot be processed' in healthcare system databases, although he could correct the error in bank transactions.
"CONGRATULATIONS" THEY SAID AS THEY GAVE THE GOOD NEWS Artan, who needed a health report to renew his expired driver's license and tried to prove he was alive, proved his existence to the Ministry of Health after the remaining 40 months. With the correction of the systemic error at the Ministry of Health, Artan breathed a sigh of relief; stating that his birth date is normally January 23, he said that with the correction of the systemic error, July 10 has become his new birth date. Upon hearing the words 'Congratulations, you appear as alive, not dead, in our system' during a call from officials notifying him of the correction, Artan said he was happy with that statement.
"I HAD BEEN SHOWN AS DEAD SINCE FEBRUARY 6" Ahmet Artan, who said he won his 40-month-long struggle with the correction of the error in the Ministry of Health system, said, 'Since February 6, I had been shown as dead, and in many of our state institutions, I appeared dead in the system. We corrected it in banks and a few state institutions. The Ministry of Health was the last one, and thank God, after so much effort, it is now fixed. When I checked a little while ago, I am alive in the system like everyone else. As my first action, I even went and made an appointment. Imagine, you make a normal appointment and you are happy with it. After all, I waited there for 4 years, and now thank God I got that appointment. I will go to my appointment on Monday. I will get the health report immediately and renew my license. We will get our license. I will use our state's health institution like everyone else now. 4 years, it's easy to say, but I was really having serious difficulties. Some friends laugh and say 'forget it, stay dead,' but it's not like that. You can't do anything. You can't log into your own e-government. There is a hospital that your state has set up for you, but you can't even go there. Thank God I didn't have an accident or anything. If I had, imagine—you are without an ID, you have an ID, but you don't exist in the system. I suffered a very bad grievance this way, but thank God I overcame that too.'
"FROM NOW ON, MY BIRTHDAY IS JULY 10" Stating that his birthday is normally January 23, Artan said that July 10, the date the systemic error was corrected, will be his new birth date, saying, 'My birthday was normally January 23, but from now on it will go down in history as July 10. When they called me, they said 'Congratulations, you appear as alive, not dead, in our system.' I was happy. After all, you are a citizen of the Republic of Turkey, but you don't exist. You live like in the movie 'Neither Alive Nor Dead,' but you don't exist in the system. Now, thank God, we fixed that too. Thank God, may no one else experience such a thing. From now on, I hope I will use all the institutions of my state normally like everyone else. Before, the date of death was written as February 6, 2023, but when I looked today, thank God, they have erased it. I just appear normally alive, it says the person is alive. I especially thank the Ministry of Health. I thank the state officials and most of all my reporter friend Ramazan Ilın. Thank you, he ran around with me and put in effort. But thank God, we got the reward for our effort. Now we live like everyone else.'