Health personnel strike for urgent demands

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

Health personnel went on strike on March 13 in various cities across Turkey a day before national Doctor’s Day, demanding better working conditions, better wages, policies to improve the quality of medical education, and equal and free medical services to all citizens.

Personnel working in the health sector across the country downed their tools, except for emergencies, to issue five urgent demands.

The Istanbul Chamber of Doctors issued a statement in Turkey’s largest city.

“The struggle of health personnel is not just about their rights; it is about the citizen’s right to health. We call on all citizens to support health personnel,” said Turkish Medical Association head Beyazıt İlhan, despite the reaction from some angry patients who were unaware of the strike, daily Hürriyet reported.

While health personnel in Istanbul marched to the Beyazıt Square situated on the city’s historic peninsula, chanting slogans and holding banners expressing their five key demands, personnel also gathered in front of the İbn-i Sina Hospital in Ankara and walked to the Health Ministry. In the Aegean province of Izmir, meanwhile, health personnel marched toward the provincial directorate of health chanting slogans.