Draft bill targets vocal medical group after leader’s arrest

İzmir protesters call for release of TTB's Şebnem Korur-Korur-Fincancı. (Photo: TİHV)

On November 18, the government-allied Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) introduced a draft bill requesting the removal of the word 'Turkish' from the Turkish Medical Association's (TTB) official title.

The draft law also seeks to revoke TTB membership for medical workers that have been discharged by presidential decrees and to lift a mandatory membership requirement for physicians with independent practices.

The proposals came shortly after TTB head Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur-Korur-Fincancı was arrested on charges relating to "terror propaganda," for which she faces up to 7.5 years in prison.

Taken together, rights advocates say recent actions targeting the TTB, which has over 110,000 members across 65 cities in Türkiye, are designed to weaken the association's capacity to mobilize ahead of 2023 elections and silence one of the most vocal groups in Turkish civil society.

"The draft bill is clearly unconstitutional. And considering it has been submitted by a single MP, it's irreverent," Vedat Bulut, TTB secretary general, told Turkey recap. "Even pro-government physicians would not support the disintegration of the TTB."

The TTB was established in 1953 under Constitutional law no. 6023, which frames its operations as independent and non-governmental while also under state mandate. Most broadly, the association aims to safeguard medical workers and improve public health standards in Türkiye.

In one of their recent actions, the TTB organized a general strike in March to protest the poor working conditions of health workers.

Tensions have been simmering between the TTB and the ruling government alliance since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the association frequently questioned official death counts and criticized what it deemed inadequate measures to protect health professionals.

The "chemical attack" comment

The strained relations reached a breaking point last month, when TTB head and forensic specialist Korur-Fincancı appeared on pro-PKK media outlet Medya Haber TV and commented on a video released by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The militant group had claimed the video showed Türkiye's troops releasing a chemical substance into a cave, an allegation that sparked controversy and protests in Türkiye.

Speaking on air, Korur-Fincancı said an independent investigation must be conducted based on the Minnesota Protocol whenever a complaint is raised about chemical weapons, adding, "Apparently, a toxic gas was used that could affect the nervous system."

The authorities firmly denied using chemical weapons and Korur-Fincancı's remarks were met with instant backlash and a legal investigation. Commenting on the subject, Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the judiciary would take "the necessary steps" with both the TTB and its leader.

Going a step further, MHP head Devlet Bahçeli called for the removal of Korur-Fincancı's citizenship.

"It has the utmost, historic importance to lock the doors of the TTB. And the TTB president should be stripped of her citizenship, doomed to remain stateless," Bahçeli said, receiving a standing ovation from MHP delegates.

The TTB's legal division says it reached out to a Public Prosecutor's office in Ankara upon learning about the investigation on Korur-Fincancı and told authorities that she would be willing to testify, if needed. Korur-Fincancı, who was abroad when the investigation was announced, then returned to Türkiye.

Shortly after her arrival, Korur-Fincancı was detained at her home during a police raid. Türkiye's public broadcaster TRT released a video clip of the raid and claimed Kalashnikov bullets were found in the house. TRT's report got picked up by numerous pro-government newspapers and quickly spread.

Korur-Fincancı's lawyer Meriç Eyüpoğlu said the bullets in Korur-Fincancı's house belonged to her late father, who was a member of the Turkish armed forces, and his registered gun had been returned to authorities when he passed away 14 years ago.

"They detained her in her home even though she said she would come and testify. Even though she willingly returned to Türkiye and showed no intention of running away," Bulut said, describing the incident as a politically motivated attack.

Bulut added, "Such a disgrace for the public broadcaster to produce a video of that nature with a [military] operation soundtrack."

"Footage of the search in her house was leaked to the press by the police before any legal procedure began. It's a smear campaign," Coşkun Üsterci, Secretary General of Human Rights Foundation of Türkiye (HRFT) told Turkey recap. "Şebnem is being targeted because her relentless search for the truth unsettles the authorities."

"Ill-intentioned motivations"

Korur-Fincancı is known for her decades-long anti-torture work in Türkiye and abroad. Over the course of her career, she investigated mass graves in Bosnia for the United Nations, inspected suspicious deaths in detention in Israel and the Philippines, co-founded the Society of Forensic Specialists and chaired HRFT, an organization dedicated to treating torture survivors in Türkiye.

She is also among the authors of the İstanbul Protocol, a UN manual and the international standard for forensic documentation and investigation of torture. Once, she also traveled to Bahrain, undercover as a tourist, to conduct a secret autopsy that would eventually expose the death of a young man tortured in detention.

Yet Korur-Fincancı's line of work often put her at odds with authorities. Back in 2020, her election as the TTB head caused a fury among Turkish government circles.

At the time, Bahçeli asked for TTB's closure while his press advisor said the association became "a PKK camp".

During the same period, Erdoğan said the TTB was "hand in hand with terror" and proposed a restructuring of the association. In the following days, the heated debate around the TTB's management was temporarily shelved as the pandemic intensified and public support for physicians as well as the TTB increased significantly.

Now with Covid-19 on the political back burner and elections on the horizon, TTB Secretary General Vedat Bulut believes the association's fate is once again becoming an agenda item for both Erdoğan and his ally, Bahçeli.

Bulut said it is likely the government alliance will aim to land a heavy blow against the TTB ahead of the elections. He believes, however, the public sees "the ill-intentioned motivations" behind the government's anti-TTB rhetoric.

"We are ready, our lawyers are ready, and the public is ready. Nobody is buying this anymore," Bulut told Turkey recap. (IK/VK)

This report was produced by Turkey recap with support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Turkey and the IPS Communication Foundation.

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