Doctors' Prison Terms for Criticizing Afrin Operation on Parliamentary Agenda

Photo: TTB/Twitter

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Eleven doctors from the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) were given prison terms on Friday (May 3) for "terrorist propaganda" and "provoking people into animosity and hatred," because of a declaration they published regarding the "Olive Branch Operation" that Turkey's armed forces conducted in Syria's Afrin in the last year.

Ten members of the TTB Central Council were sentenced to 1 year and 8 months, one member was sentenced to 3 years, 3 months and 22 days in prison.

As the court did not suspend the announcement of the verdict, the doctors will appeal against the result.

Is stating a thought against the government a crime?

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Meral Danış Beştaş brought the topic into the parliamentary agenda, directing questions at Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül. She also asked questions about academic Prof. Füsun Üstel, whose prison term for having signed the Peace Declaration was upheld by the court of appeals in March.

What is the element of crime in the statements of the TTB members and the academics regarding the right to live in peace?
In which regulation does stating a thought against the government constitute an offense?
Are the sentences given to academics and doctors a threat to society to make people not criticize the government?
Why does demanding peace instead of war, life instead of death, and justice instead of injustice disturbs the government?
While Sedat Peker, who said, "We will make you bleed and take a bath with your blood," was acquitted and no elements of the crime were found in these words, why the call for peace by the physicians and academics were evaluated within the scope of an offense?

Prison sentence for TTB members

The İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court sentenced 10 TTB members to 20 months in prison: Mehmet Raşit Tükel, Sinan Adıyaman, Ayfer Horasan, Bülent Nazım Yılmaz, Dursun Yaşar Ulutaş, Funda Barlık Obuz, Mehmet Sezai Berber, Mustafa Tamer Gören, Selma Göngür, Şeyhmuz Gökalp.

Hande Arpat was sentenced to 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days in prison.

The doctors published a declaration titled, "War is a public health problem," on January 24, 2018, saying, "Every conflict causes irreparable problems in terms of physical, mental, social and environmental health."

In the trial of academics, 610 people have been tried for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" since December 5, 2017, for having signed the declaration titled, "We will not be a party to this crime."

What did the doctors say?

War is a public health problem!

As doctors we warn:

War is a human-made public health problem with effects of destroying nature and humankind, threat to social life.

Each armed conflict, each war brings along human tragedy by causing irremediable problems in terms of physical, mental, social and environmental health.

As members of a profession who have taken oath to save lives we constantly keep in mind our first and foremost duty to defend life and commit to maintain the environment of peace.

The way to cope up with the problem of war is to have a just, democratic, equalitarian, free and peaceful life and maintain it.

No to war; peace now and everywhere!

(TP/VK)