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A Turkish prosecutor ordered the detention of 11 senior members of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) on Tuesday, including its chairman, after the body criticized Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria, Reuters reports.

The prosecutor said police in Ankara had started legal proceedings on Tuesday morning and search-and-detention operations were carried out in several provinces. Media reports said nine of the medics had been detained.

Turkish authorities have cracked down on any expression of dissent over the air and ground offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Syria’s Afrin region. More than 300 people have been detained for social media posts criticizing the campaign since it began 10 days ago.

The association’s lawyer Ziynet Ozcelik said that the doctors faced accusations of “propaganda in support of a terrorist organization, and provoking the public”. Ozcelik said it was the first time in the association’s history that all its executive members had been ordered detained.

The association had denounced the cross-border operation into Syria’s Afrin last week, saying: “No to war, peace immediately”. That prompted President Tayyip Erdogan to accuse the union of treason.

“Believe me, they are not intellectuals at all, they are a gang of slaves. They are the servants of imperialism,” he told AK Party members in the northern province of Amasya on Sunday.

“This ‘No to war’ cry by this mob ... is nothing other than the outburst of the betrayal in their souls ... This is real filth, this is the honorless stance that should be said ‘no’ to,” he said.

Turkey’s Health Minister Ahmet Demircan was quoted by Hurriyet newspaper as saying the union had no right to make such a statement and added that the health ministry had filed a lawsuit to have the union’s administration removed.

“It (TTB) has made a big mistake. The necessary actions will be taken in accordance with the law,” Demircan was quoted as saying.

The crackdown on top medics drew swift criticism from an international medical organization and rights group Amnesty International, who called for protection for the members and an immediate end to the legal proceedings.