President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced plans on Oct. 17 to recruit 38,000 health staff other than doctors, saying a recruitment notice would be issued before the end of 2026.
Speaking at an opening and groundbreaking ceremony at Istanbul University’s Çapa campus, Erdoğan said the Health Ministry would announce the recruitment timetable.
“Providing our citizens with the highest quality health services has always been our priority,” he said.
The ceremony marked the opening of hospital buildings at the university’s Çapa and Esenyurt campuses and the groundbreaking for two further projects.
Erdoğan said the new internal medicine hospital at Çapa covers 44,000 square meters and has 186 beds, including 39 intensive care beds. Outpatient services have already begun.
The president said government investments over the past 24 years had improved access to treatment and rebuilt Istanbul’s health infrastructure. He recalled periods when people unable to pay were denied care and patients were held in hospitals over unpaid bills.
Erdoğan also pointed to the arrival of patients from abroad, saying the government aimed to make Türkiye a global destination for health care.
“Our people used to go abroad for health care. Now people from all over the world visit our country for health care,” he said.
