Opposition seeks health services in Kurdish

ANKARA

Tanrıkulu highlights the ‘structural aspects’ of the Kurdish problem. DHA photo

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has urged the government to eliminate the “structural aspects” of the Kurdish issue, with a deputy chair of the party asking for health services to be offered in Kurdish.

“Society’s expectation is to overcome the structural dimensions of the Kurdish problem through a series of laws,” CHP Deputy Chair Sezgin Tanrıkulu stated in a parliamentary inquiry introduced to the Parliament Speaker’s Office for response by Health Minister Memhmet Müezzinoğlu.

Some citizens in eastern and southeastern Turkey, as well as in some western provinces, cannot speak Turkish, and face communication problems with the hospital personnel, Tanrıkulu said.

The CHP lawmaker asked whether the government had “laid the ground for appointing doctors and hospital personnel who speaks Kurdish.”

“Does the government plan to employ Kurdish speaking personnel in patients’ rights departments of hospitals?” he asked, questioning if the government would launch training for employees to explain medical concepts in Kurdish.

Tanrıkulu also sought an answer on the issue of how many specialists would be appointed and how many technical devices would be sent by the government to hospitals in eastern and southeastern provinces.