Erdogan is hard against Turkish doctors because they are defamed enemies of the state

When Sebnem Korur FinCanci was finally found to be guilty of the "spread of terrorist propaganda", nobody was surprised.

It did not matter that she was an internationally renowned forensic doctor and chair of the largest Turkish medical association or that human rights groups denied the process as an attempt to silence government critics.

dr. FinCanci had contracted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's personal anger by publicly supporting the alleged use of the alleged use of chemical weapons by the army against militant Kurds in northern Iraq.

He accused her of defaming the Turkish armed forces and insulting their own country, "by speaking the language of the terrorist organization" - the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

dr. FinCanci itself told the court during the three -day hearing last week that she was not expecting a fair judgment after it was personally attacked by the increasingly authoritarian leader of the country who is aiming for a re -election this June.

She said her process was politically motivated and more than anything she said about democratic values and freedom of expression.

The only shock was that she was sentenced to less than three years in prison and released until her appointment.

But her process is only the tip of the iceberg.

While Turkey is almost at a record level with a three -digit inflation, there is increasing social and economic problems to finally end the two decades of rule from Mr. Erdogan and his conservative ruling party, the AKP.

The problems with which ordinary Turks are confronted is a health crisis, similar to Great Britain with long waiting times, lack of staff and overloaded hospitals.

And they are doctors and professional associations such as the Turkish Medical Association of Dr. Fincanci, who have become a scapegoat of the AKP, who tries to get the damage under control in advance of the decisive elections this summer.

"We are at a point at which the health system broke down. We saw it coming and told people about it," Ali Ihsan Okten, Vice President of the TMA, told The Telegraph.

The TMA has a story of the support of opposition strings and the sparring with the government of Mr. Erdogan. It has expressed itself particularly loudly about a health care reform led by the AKP, in which doctors were forced to treat dozens of patients every day, whereby they were often available for just five minutes.

In return, Ankara has initiated an investigation against every member of the TMA Central Committee. Ultranational politicians asked for the association's closure and insulted the doctors as enemies of the state.

Devlet Bahceli, an ally of Erdogan and chairman of the right -wing extremist party of the nationalist movement (MHP), has beaten up some doctors because they “tried to sabotage the health system”, and the TMA in particular because they “turned into an instrument of separatism”.

But it didn't stop them.

"The government wants to increase the pressure as far as possible in the run -up to the elections and silence the opposition," said Okten.

"The TMA is one of the most credible institutions in our country. If they tame us, then the fear and pressure spreads other parts of society."

"Epidemic of Violence"

The increasing verbal attacks by the government party on loudness and oppositional healthcare staff have led to what some have referred to as the "epidemic of violence" that is committed by angry patients.

Last July, Ekrem Karakaya from the city center of Konya was shot in his hospital by the son of a former patient who blamed the cardiologist for the death of his mother.

The murder of the doctor triggered a two -day nationwide strike of health care employees who accused the government of not protecting them at best and worrying the attackers.

Two days after Dr. Karakaya had been shot, a local Muslim clergyman used a sermon to denounce the healthcare staff for strikes, and said that he could "understand" if a patient decided to "kill, beat up or insult a doctor" who refuses to help him. Later he was suspended.

But the numbers indicate that such a rebellious rhetoric works, with an increase in reports on violence last year.

According to a report of the Turkish union of health and social workers published last week, over 400 employees in the healthcare sector were attacked in 2022.

But only a tenth of the attacker was charged.

HALIL Berkay Uzuncu, a doctor who used to work with the murdered cardiologist, is guarding Mr. Erdogan's party for the wave of violence.

But he is dismayed by the government's disparagement.

Like other healthcare employees, after the murder of Dr. Karakaya on the strike just to hear that state media accuse him of greed.

"You said: you asked for more money - but we just asked for more security," he said. "Nobody, even if he is paid well, wants to work in a place where his life is at stake."

The health crisis was tightened by the fact that doctors leave the country in droves because they lose hope of an economic recovery of the country.

"selfish and unpatriotic"

In the past, the profession in Turkey was highly regarded, but the healthcare staff said that the recent reforms, low wages and constant electricity offensive statements from the top of the Turkish government made work difficult. President Erdogan himself has dismissed minded doctors as "selfish" and "unpatriotic".

A report recently published in the medical sheet of Lancet assumes that around 3,000 doctors are expected to leave Turkey this year, 50 times more than 2012.

In order to react to the growing dissatisfaction, the authorities increased wages for doctors in public service by 42 percent last July, but the increase only covers half of the official inflation.

Some allies of the government have accused doctors of thinking too high of themselves and looking down on patients. Others have accused them of greed.

When President Erdogan was asked about Brain Drain at the beginning of this year, he replied: "Let her go if you want to go. We will continue with freshly doctor of doctors."

But even young doctors are not sure whether it is worth continuing the profession in the current situation.

Mert Sahin, a 27-year-old doctor from Bursa south of Istanbul, was only two weeks after the murder of Dr. Karakaya in Konya attacked in his hospital.

relatives of an eighty -year -old patient who had died in the intensive care unit stormed the clinic and threatened him and his assistants.

"You said we had treated the patient badly and that we deserve violence and death," said Dr. Sahin compared to The Telegraph.

The frightened doctor joined the intensive care unit and called the guard while the patient's relatives tried to break the door.

"After this incident, every time I came home, I checked whether I was being made. I had the feeling that my life could be in danger at any moment."

How many in Turkey will he observe the upcoming presidential elections to decide whether he still believes that he can lead a safe and respectable life in his country.

"If (the opposition) loses the choice, we will see what happens," he said. "If things are still going bad, my plan is to go abroad."