Turkish Medical Association: Stop Attacks Against Hospitals in Conflict Regions
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The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has released a written statement about the news regarding the attacks that targeted and damaged the hospitals in Syria's conflict-ridden province of Idlib.
In its statement "Attacks against hospitals in Idlib and all conflict regions of the world should be stopped", the TTB has stated the following in brief:
"The TTB is an organization which has given priority to human life and providing access to right to health, has been against all wars and conflicts and has always taken a stance favoring peace everytime and everywhere.
'Women and children harmed the most'
"Physicians are the occupational group that knows it best that disadvantaged groups, primarily women and children, are mistreated in wars and conflicts the most and that the destruction of infrastructure, social and economic fabric inflict a great damage on public health and healthcare services.
"Though jihadist gangs drenching Syria in blood are still densely grouped in Idlib, we cannot be a mere spectator to the bombings of hospitals and hindrance of healthcare services in Idlib or any part of the world.
'There cannot be a reason for delaying health'
"Nothing can be cited as a reason for putting the lives of medical workers who endeavor to treat and keep people alive in danger, damaging the buildings of healthcare providers and interrupting healthcare services.
"We, as the Turkish Medical Association, demand that 'the attacks reported as targeting the hospitals in Idlib' be stopped urgently.
"What happened in Idlib has once again shown that 'War is a public health problem!' No administrative body or court ruling can change this determination and this reality."
11 physicians sentenced to prison without defermentIn response to the Operation Olive Branch launched by Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in Syria's Afrin on January 20, 2018, the TTB has released a statement entitled "War is a Public Health Problem!'. Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against 11 Central Council members of the TTB due to this statement. As part of this investigation, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Raşit Tükel, Prof. Dr. Taner Gören, Dr. Hande Arpat, Prof. Dr. Sinan Adıyaman, Dr. Mehmet Sezai Berber, Dr. Selma Güngör, Dr. Bülent Nazım Yılmaz, Dr. Funda Barlık Obuz, Dr. Dursun Yaşar Ulutaş, Dr. Ayfer Horasan and Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp were detained on January 30. A lawsuit was filed against them. In their final hearing on May 3, Mehmet Raşit Tükel, Sinan Adıyaman, Ayfer Horasan, Bülent Nazım Yılmaz, Dursun Yaşar Ulutaş, Funda Barlık Obuz, Mehmet Sezai Berber, Mustafa Tamer Gören, Selma Göngür ve Şeyhmuz Gökalp have been sentenced to 1 year, 8 months in prison on charges of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "inciting the public to enmity and hatred". Convicted of the same charge, Dr. Hande Arpat has been sentenced to 3 years, 3 months, 22 days in prison. The court has not suspended the verdicts; therefore, the verdicts of conviction will be evaluated by the court of appeal. |
(RT/SD)
