Minister Memişoğlu: If you had documents in your possession, why didn't you share them with prosecutors?

Regarding the Newborn Gang investigation, Minister Memişoğlu said, "Don't pay attention to those who appear 6 months after the operation, 2 months after the indictment became public, and after all the wiretap records and findings from digital materials were reflected in the public eye, acting like heroes as if they had uncovered the issue themselves; if they had information and documents in their hands, where was their mind until the indictment was published? Why did they keep this information to themselves? Why didn't they share it with the prosecutors and authorized bodies?"

The 2025 Central Government Budget and 2023 Final Account Law Proposals are being discussed in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Speaking during the Ministry of Health budget proposal discussions in the General Assembly, Minister Memişoğlu described a typical day in healthcare, stating that 2 million 800 thousand examinations, more than 18 thousand surgeries, and more than 500 thousand radiological imaging procedures are performed in Turkey in a single day, and that more than 3 million citizens are served in health institutions every day.

"WE HAVE 1.5 MILLION HEALTHCARE WORKERS"

Stating that the health family is getting stronger every day, Memişoğlu said, "In 2002, we had a total of 379 thousand healthcare workers. Today, this number has reached 1.5 million. The number of healthcare workers in institutions affiliated with our Ministry was only 257 thousand in 2002. Today, we have increased this number to 873 thousand. We have increased our number of physicians, which was 92 thousand, to 222 thousand. While 114 thousand midwives and nurses were serving in 2002, today 327 thousand midwives and nurses are serving."

"WE HAVE REDUCED THE AVERAGE AGE OF OUR HOSPITALS TO 13 YEARS"

Stating that they have renovated or rebuilt 80 percent of hospitals in the last 22 years, Minister Memişoğlu said, "Thus, we have reduced the average age of our hospitals to 13 years; and we continue to reduce it. We obtained 144 thousand of our current 172 thousand bed capacity with the hospitals renovated during the AK Party period."

"WE SUCCEED IN KEEPING THEM ALIVE"

Minister Memişoğlu stated that babies born under 37 weeks are called premature and said, "Unfortunately, one out of every ten babies born this way in the world loses their life. In contrast, we have healthcare workers and a system that succeeds in keeping 95.2 percent of our premature babies alive and can keep these babies alive."

Minister of Health Memişoğlu mentioned that more than 76 million citizens actively use the e-Nabız application today and said, "1 million 300 thousand of our citizens can make appointments from our hospitals daily using the MHRS system."

MADE A STATEMENT REGARDING FAMILY PHYSICIANS

Stating that they want family medicine to be the first door citizens access for health, Memişoğlu said, "For this reason, we are working to make family medicine more functional within the health system. Don't pay attention to the false claims of some, such as 'family physicians will no longer be able to prescribe medication, if a citizen goes to the hospital, the family physician's salary will be cut.' We have not made and will not make any cuts to the salaries and incentive payments currently held by family physicians who fulfill the responsibilities of their duties. On the contrary, we have introduced new additional incentive mechanisms. We have tripled the incentive payments we give to our family physicians, increasing them from 14 thousand 800 liras to 44 thousand 600 liras. Of course, while introducing these new additional incentives, we have tied them to certain criteria."

Emphasizing that they will continue to strengthen primary healthcare services, Memişoğlu gave the good news of one thousand new Family Health Centers in 2025.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SHARE?"

Stating that the "Newborn Gang" was dismantled through coordinated and diligent work between the provincial health directorate, the police department, and judicial authorities, Minister Memişoğlu continued his words as follows:

"We are the ones who noticed the anomaly in our inspections and turned the issue into a judicial operation when it became more concrete with a CİMER report. Look, the prosecutors of this state and the police officers of this state are the ones who conducted this much technical surveillance. The health personnel of this state are the ones who carried out this much inspection. Don't pay attention to those who appear today 6 months after the operation, 2 months after the indictment became public, and after all the wiretap records and findings from digital materials were reflected in the public eye, acting like heroes as if they had uncovered the issue themselves. If they had information and documents in their hands, where was their mind until the indictment was published? Why did they keep this information to themselves? Why didn't they share it with the prosecutors and authorized bodies?"

News Source: İHA