《中英對照讀新聞》’Dead’ Turkish man spends 10 years fighting to prove he is alive 一名土耳其「死人」花10年為證明活著而奮鬥

◎魏國金

A 46-year-old Turkish man mistakenly listed as dead by authorities has spent 10 years fighting to prove he is alive, state media reported on Sunday.

一名被當局誤列為死者的46歲土耳其男子奮鬥了10年，以證明自己還活著，國營媒體週日報導。

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Sinan Avci, who lives in eastern Erzurum province, was forced into an early retirement in 2003 after being diagnosed with epilepsy.

住在土國東部省份埃爾祖魯姆的希南．阿弗奇，2003年因被診斷出罹患癲癇症而被迫提早退休。

The former worker discovered that Turkey’s Social Security Fund (SSK) had listed him as dead in 2004 when he failed to withdraw his disability pension. "They told me I was deceased... But I was very much alive," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Anatolia news agency.

這位前勞工在2004年無法提取殘障津貼時，才發現土國的社安基金（SSK）已將他列為死者。「他們告訴我，我已經死了，但我活得好好的，」國營的「安納托利亞新聞社」引述他的說詞報導。

Avci, who had since been struggling to prove he was alive, said he could not work both due to his illness and since he no longer officially existed. Called by locals as "Sinan, the dead," the man mostly relied on financial help from relatives and neighbours.

自此努力證明自己還活著的阿弗奇表示，因為疾病以及不再被官方認定存在，所以他沒辦法工作。被當地人稱為「死者希南」的他，主要仰賴親戚與鄰居的接濟度日。

After a 10-year legal battle, Avci finally managed this week to convince the authorities that he was not dead.

在打了10年官司後，阿弗奇終於在本週成功讓當局確信他沒死。

But he faces another struggle trying to get his unpaid salaries and the right to disability benefits back. "What else should I do? I proved that I’m alive but should I now cut my arms or legs to prove I’m disabled?" he said, crying. (AFP)

但他面臨另一場爭討未付的工資，以及恢復殘障福利權益的戰鬥。「我還該做什麼？我已證明我還活著，難道現在我應斷手、斷腳來證明我是殘障？」他哭喊說。（法新社）

新聞辭典

withdraw：動詞，提取、撤回、退縮。例句：She had withdrawn farther and farther into herself.（她越來越孤僻。）

deceased：形容詞，已死的。例句：The deceased left a large sum of money to his pet dog.（這名死者將一大筆錢留給他的寵物狗。）

convince：動詞，使確信、使信服、說服。例句：She is convinced of his innocence.（她確信他是無辜的。）