Turkish authorities detained senior members of the Turkish Medical Association at the end of January 2018 after the professional body criticised Ankara’s military operation in Afrin.

The association had issued a statement emphasising the health and humanitarian costs of armed conflict and calling for peace. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the organisation’s leadership of betrayal, and prosecutors pursued members under anti-terror provisions. Reuters reported that detention orders covered eleven senior officials, including the chairman; Voice of America reported that nine had been taken into custody by 30 January.

The case became part of a wider crackdown on criticism of Operation Olive Branch. Authorities investigated social-media users, politicians, journalists and activists accused of opposing or misrepresenting the campaign. The government maintained that action was necessary against propaganda supporting terrorist groups.

Rights advocates argued that peaceful criticism of military policy was protected expression and that the use of anti-terror law against doctors had a chilling effect on civil society. The episode illustrated how Turkey’s continuing state of emergency intersected with a new cross-border war, narrowing the space for dissent at a moment of intense nationalism and security concern.

Sources