Turkey arrests chairman of medical association over Afrin comments
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkey has arrested eight executives of the Turkish Medical Association on "terrorism charges" after the trade union had condemned Ankara’s operation in Afrin.
The association's chairman Dr. Rashit Tukel and seven other TMA executives were arrested in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday.
The Turkish Medical Association had condemned the Afrin operation on Friday and called for peace.
“Any clash, any war, by paving the way to irrecoverable issues in terms of physical, spiritual, social and environmental health, will also bring a humanitarian drama,” read a statement on their website.
Erdogan subsequently accused of the medical association of being “terrorist-lovers” and questioned their “silence” over activities of the PKK.
The TMA responded saying that their opposition to war is an act of “patriotism.”
The TMA has not released any statements since Friday.
In Turkey, 80 percent or about 83,000 doctors are members of the trade union, according to their website.
Late on Monday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deaths of "61 Syrian citizens of the Kurds, Arabs and Armenians" in Afrin.
Turkey, along with its so-called Free Syrian Army proxies, launched their assault on Kurdish-controlled Afrin in Syria on January 21, dubbed 'Operation Olive Branch.'
The mostly-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria is the dominant force in Afrin.
Ankara conflates the YPG with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a named terrorist organization in Turkey that was waged a nearly three-decade long, and sometimes armed, struggle against the Turkish state seeking greater cultural, political, and minority rights.
The YPG denies any organic links to the PKK. The YPG has fought ISIS throughout northern Syria as part of the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition's partnered ground forces.
Ankara has claimed an ISIS presence in Afrin, but there have been no verifiable reports.
The association's chairman Dr. Rashit Tukel and seven other TMA executives were arrested in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday.
Three outstanding warrants remain for TMA executives, following a complaint by the interior ministry filed with the chief prosecutor's office in Ankara.
The Turkish Medical Association had condemned the Afrin operation on Friday and called for peace.
“Any clash, any war, by paving the way to irrecoverable issues in terms of physical, spiritual, social and environmental health, will also bring a humanitarian drama,” read a statement on their website.
Erdogan subsequently accused of the medical association of being “terrorist-lovers” and questioned their “silence” over activities of the PKK.
The TMA responded saying that their opposition to war is an act of “patriotism.”
The TMA has not released any statements since Friday.
In Turkey, 80 percent or about 83,000 doctors are members of the trade union, according to their website.
Late on Monday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deaths of "61 Syrian citizens of the Kurds, Arabs and Armenians" in Afrin.
Turkey, along with its so-called Free Syrian Army proxies, launched their assault on Kurdish-controlled Afrin in Syria on January 21, dubbed 'Operation Olive Branch.'
The mostly-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria is the dominant force in Afrin.
Ankara conflates the YPG with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a named terrorist organization in Turkey that was waged a nearly three-decade long, and sometimes armed, struggle against the Turkish state seeking greater cultural, political, and minority rights.
The YPG denies any organic links to the PKK. The YPG has fought ISIS throughout northern Syria as part of the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition's partnered ground forces.
Ankara has claimed an ISIS presence in Afrin, but there have been no verifiable reports.