Turkish Medical Association Central Council removed from office

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council faced a ruling in the lawsuit filed for its removal from office.

REMOVED FROM OFFICE

In the 7th hearing of the case held at the Ankara 31st Civil Court of First Instance, the court ruled for the removal of Turkish Medical Association Central Council President Şebnem Korur Fincancı and the members of the central council from their duties.

FIRST STATEMENT FROM TTB

Following the decision, the Turkish Medical Association released a statement on the social media platform X.

"THE CENTRAL COUNCIL REMAINS IN OFFICE UNTIL THE DECISION IS FINALIZED ON APPEAL"

The TTB's statement is as follows:

"The regime of lawlessness that the political power seeks to impose has borne another fruit; in the case targeting the Turkish Medical Association, the series of illegalities that have been ongoing for a year has resulted in the removal of the Central Council members from office. We underline this with thick lines: Nothing has changed for the Turkish Medical Association from yesterday to today. The Central Council remains in office until the decision is finalized on appeal.

If there is no equality, no freedom, no democracy, no justice, no health; then struggle is a right! And struggle is the name of the Turkish Medical Association!"

WHAT HAPPENED?

The TTB removal case was heard at the Ankara 31st Civil Court of First Instance.

Stating that the investigation phase of the case had concluded, the presiding judge heard the oral arguments. Lawyer Hülya Yıldırım stated that the inclusion of "activities outside the scope of purpose"—the justification for the case—in the law is inherently contrary to the law, saying, "This justification is unlawful and contrary to the freedom of association."

"THERE IS NO ORGANIZATION LEFT THAT HAS NOT BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH MY NAME"

Dr. Fincancı, presenting her defense, said, "I thank you for following the process from the beginning as a judge and for reading the file. Good medical practice, like good medicine, is an example for the lawyers of the future. Our most important field of work is public health. This field is the backbone of the TTB. This backbone has not bent or broken for years. We have been tried many times. Of course, the government was going to be uncomfortable with what we did. While we were talking about the loss of hundreds of thousands of people during the pandemic, the government stayed at one hundred thousand. Again, during the earthquake, while the government stayed at 50 thousand; telecommunications companies announced that hundreds of thousands of phones were canceled and never used again. We also measured air pollution in the earthquake zone. We obtained results exactly 3 times higher than the WHO standards. No institution or person worked on these results for fear of losing their accreditation. This is how they want to silence us. There is serious misinformation in the public eye. There is no organization left that has not been associated with my name.

They called the scientific statement I gave in the newspapers a 'personal opinion.' No, this is a scientific opinion. This is how they cover up the truth. I made a preliminary diagnosis regarding the footage. International organizations will decide which weapon was used. Naturally, it is not correct to associate the issue with the TTB Central Council. What happens if you remove me from the TTB? I entered this door in 1978. Beyond this decision being procedural, the decision must be fair," she said.

Lawyer Leyla Verda Ersoy stated that their procedural objections had continued since the beginning of the case, saying, "Look, even if it were not Dr. Fincancı but all of the TTB Central Council who said this, we would still like to express that we stand behind these words," she said.

News Source: 12punto