An elderly woman in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa, southeastern Türkiye, was taken to the hospital due to illness, where it was discovered that she had lived for 70 years without an official identity document.
Fatma Akyüz, a 70-year-old resident of the Aligör neighborhood, was taken to the hospital by her neighbors after falling ill. They realized she had no ID when attempting to register her at the hospital.
They contacted her husband, 75-year-old Faruk Akyüz, asking him to bring her identification, but he responded that she had never had one. The situation was reported to the local neighborhood head (muhtar).
Upon visiting the woman's home, the neighborhood head was astonished to learn that she had lived without an identity document for her entire life. It was also revealed that Faruk Akyüz, who is officially listed as single, and his wife Fatma Akyüz have four children, all of whom are registered under different names in official records.
Faruk Akyüz, who takes care of his ailing wife in their modest home, hopes to have her registered with the civil registry before he passes away and is seeking assistance from authorities.
Neighborhood head Mehmet Salih Alakuş explained, "Until now, we had no idea this woman had no official identity. We only discovered it when she fell ill. We immediately went to the civil registry office, but the director told us that a woman's sibling needed to apply for her ID. Unfortunately, the director had no other options due to legal procedures."
He added, "We considered going to court, but we don’t know how long that process would take. Right now, our hands are tied, and the woman is suffering. As Aligör residents, we are trying to help but don’t know what to do next. We hope the government resolves this issue."
"The woman does exist, but she has no official record. So far, we have only contacted the civil registry but haven't contacted the district governors or governor’s offices yet because we only just learned about this. We have a meeting scheduled with the district governor in a few days to present the case," he said.
"The family has four children but cannot care for their parents as they are all agricultural laborers working elsewhere. The woman also has six brothers who are also farm workers and lack literacy. They don’t know what to do, and no one has guided them before. Her children are officially registered under their uncle’s name, while her husband is still listed as single. When we inform the district governor about such cases, he helps, but in this case, we first need to prove that this person exists," Alakuş explained.
Faruk Akyüz, who wants his wife to receive an official ID, said, "We got married, but my wife has never had an identity document. She is now 70 years old. We want the government to provide her with an ID to access healthcare. We are struggling. We have four children, but their records were registered under my brother’s name."
"I am 75 years old, and my wife has six siblings, but none of them took steps to register her. It would be a relief if the government gave my wife an official identity. Right now, we can’t even take her to the hospital. If she had an ID, it would solve many problems. I care for her myself – helping her stand, cooking for her. I have no one; my siblings have all passed away," Akyüz said.
