Turkey's Medical association to lose Turkish tag for criticizing Syria campaign

Turkey say it will strip the word “Turkish” from the name of its main medical association after the organisation publicly opposed it's military campaign in Syria, said President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.

Since the launch of the offensive in northwest Syria’s Afrin nearly three weeks ago, authorities say they would prosecute those who criticise the incursion but the 83,000-member Turkish Medical Association denounced the operation, saying “No to war, peace immediately”.

Last month, Erdogan accused the body of treason while 11 of its senior members were detained by prosecutors but were later released on probation.

This institution has nothing to do with Turkishness and nothing about them is worthy of the notion of Turkishness,” Erdogan said in a speech on Thursday.

A new law will ensure the group “will not be able to use the notion of Turkishness, nor the nameTurkey, Erdogan said.

The Turkish Medical Association, known locally by its initials TTB, represents 80 per cent of the nation’s doctors. The group said the right to call itself “Turkish” was enshrined in the constitution and reflected its service to the public good.

The comments made to discredit the TTB are met with sadness and amazement by conscientious, civilised people,” it said in a statement.

We maintain our stance of being in favour of life and peace today, as we did in the past.

And while the details of the new legislation have not been made public, the state-run Anadolu news agency said TTB membership would no longer be a requirement to practice medicine in a private practice report Reuters.