He learned he was dead when he went to the land registry office: The stunned man said, 'I am a living dead man, I must first prove that I am alive!'

The incident that happened to 74-year-old Rıfat Özten, who is originally from Kula and lives in the Yunusemre district of Manisa, brought to mind Aziz Nesin's novel 'Yaşar Ne Yaşar Ne Yaşamaz'.

Explaining that after his mother and father passed away and the cadastre passed through the village, the village headman called him and said, 'Let's transfer all the inheritance to your name, and you can distribute it to your siblings,' Rıfat Özten stated that the inheritance was transferred to his name in the land registry at that time.

Stating that he went to the land registry to distribute the inherited family lands to his siblings, Özten said, "According to the records, I am a living dead; I will initiate legal proceedings to correct the situation," upon witnessing that he was not alive according to the land registry records.

'AM I ALIVE OR DEAD NOW?'

Still unable to overcome his astonishment while recounting the tragicomic event, Rıfat Özten said, "I went to Kula last Wednesday to distribute the inherited family titles in my name in Yağbastı Village, Kula district of Manisa, to my siblings. We stopped by the Land Registry Office.

'You must make an appointment in advance; we cannot process transactions without an appointment,' they said. We tried to make an appointment online but couldn't. We went to the Land Registry Directorate again and explained the situation, that we couldn't get an appointment. They told me, 'You are dead, you are not alive, that's why it doesn't give you an appointment.' By then, it was evening. We returned to Manisa in the evening.

'I AM LIVING THE NOVEL I READ'

The next day, we stopped by the Population Directorate in Manisa. There, it turned out that I was alive in the Family Population Registration Sample. For that reason, I had read a novel by Aziz Nesin before. I hadn't paid much attention to 'Yaşar Ne Yaşar Ne Yaşamaz' at the time, but when it happened to me, I started to agree with the author.

Am I alive or am I dead? It hurts my pride to have to prove that I am alive. It hurts my pride to try to prove that I am alive while I am living.”

'I AM OFFICIALLY DEAD'

Noting that they would have to take the matter to court if the situation is not resolved, Özten said: “I will consult with my lawyer and decide what to do. My lawyer finally said, ‘Let's write a petition; if it can be corrected, it will be, if not, we will have to go to the Civil Court of First Instance. We will pay some money, but I will also make those who did this, those who caused it, receive the necessary punishment.’ We are 5 siblings. Two of them received their rights and places before the pandemic, I handed them over to them.

The rights of the remaining two were still there. One of them came from Ankara last Wednesday. He wanted to take the titles into his name. When we went, we encountered this situation. We couldn't give them. It means I am dead in the land registry. I need to prove that I am alive in the land registry first.

'IT HURTS MY PRIDE TO PROVE THAT I AM ALIVE'

In the Kula Land Registry records, I am a living dead. I don't know if this was done by mistake or intentionally. We need to prove that we are alive first, and that hurts my pride. I cannot think of a worse situation than a living person having to prove that they are alive.

I am a victim, I am sad. Because for a person to try to prove that they are alive—if I were dead, amen, but I am alive—is not a situation that can be accepted by reason.”