The 'they are leaving for money' fallacy, Apple, Tesla, and Chobani

When explaining the reason why doctors are leaving for abroad, the Minister of Health made a money-counting gesture with his hand, adopting a 'coffeehouse' attitude.

Setting aside whether such a gesture is becoming of a minister, we all know that this is not the real reason for the exodus abroad.

Medicine is one of the most respected professions in the world. Wherever you go, and regardless of age, you are treated with respect when you say you are a doctor. 

No other professional is called to duty if needed in places like airplanes, hotels, or even cafes and restaurants.

Furthermore, every treatment provided by doctors is unforgettable because it adds something to a person's life. Even 30 years later, you feel gratitude toward a doctor who saved you from deafness, gave you a child, or extended your life by 10 years, just like the gratitude felt toward a teacher who taught you a letter.

But the treatment of such a respected profession's members in Turkey is unfortunately distressing.

Words like "Let them go if they want!" rose from the very top of the state, while ordinary people at the bottom say, "I beat up a doctor, what more could there be?" and recount this as a matter of pride.

The minister, who is a physician himself, should not have chosen the 'money-counting' gesture; instead, he should have openly admitted that recent actions have led to such an environment and apologized.

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When the new Republic was founded in Turkey, the greatest deficiency was in universities and in the field of science. When Atatürk opened the doors to Jewish-origin German academics fleeing the Hitler regime in Germany, Turkey suddenly became a sanctuary for the world's most respected scientists. Today, if there is anything in the name of science in Turkey, the contribution of the 142 scientists who fled the Nazi regime and came to Turkey is significant.

The foundation of the United States being a world leader also lies in its ability to attract the brightest people from other countries; Steve Jobs, who founded Apple—whose phones are sold for tens of thousands of liras today—was the son of a Syrian father, and Elon Musk, who founded the world automotive giant Tesla, is South African. Hamdi Ulukaya, who founded the billion-dollar yogurt company Chobani in America, was a Kurd from Erzincan, and he was able to reach where he is today only after fleeing Turkey to avoid being accused of being a terrorist. These people succeeded by changing countries because they did not accept being humiliated by people making 'money gestures' in their own countries. In the end, Syria missed out on an Apple, South Africa on a Tesla, and Turkey on a Chobani; others reaped the rewards.

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I wish the minister who made the 'money gesture' had the chance to read this memory I am about to write: The jurist and Professor Emeritus Ernst Hirsch, who fled the Nazi regime and came to Turkey, attended the 10th-anniversary celebrations of the Republic as a guest of honor and described his memories in 1933 as follows:

"On the evening of October 29, it was as if the apocalypse were happening; the invitation was in the massive hall at Dolmabahçe Palace. The 600-meter-long pier was illuminated brilliantly. And here I am, I who was despised in my own German homeland, expelled from the positions I held, forced to leave my home and country and flee to foreign lands, I am present in this magnificent palace, among the country's elite, as a respected and esteemed German professor. This extraordinary moment, where fortune smiled upon me, was granted to me in my very first year in Turkey."

That was the vision of those who governed Turkey in those years.

And that is why, in those years, one dollar was only 1 Turkish Lira, whereas now 1 dollar is 28.5 TL, and retirees are happy as a family because they received 5 thousand TL.