Medical services to halt on Monday across Turkey to protest doctor killing
The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has announced that medical personnel across Turkey will halt all non-emergency services on Monday in protest at Friday's murder of Dr. Kamil Furtun in the northern province of Samsun, Today’s Zaman reports.
Furtun had been working as a surgeon at the Samsun Chest Diseases & Chest Surgery Hospital since 2005. The 56-year-old doctor -- who once won "Doctor of the Year in Samsun” -- was shot dead on May 29. His assailant was a 30-year-old man who had lost a relative whom Furtun had operated on at the state hospital.
After being detained by police in his home, Furtun's assailant İsmail Koyun inexplicably told reporters as he was taken to the police station that he was bored. “I just like it. That's why I killed him. Do you have anything else to ask?” he said.
Complaining that the Health Ministry and Parliament ignored warnings sent by similar murders in the past, the TTB statement on Saturday said the association is angry because preventive measures could have been taken to prevent such violence in the health sector.
The Samsun Chamber of Physicians also announced that they will halt all medical services except emergency services in Samsun-based hospitals on Monday and Tuesday. To further protest Furtun's killing, doctors in Samsun will also organize a protest march in the city on Monday.