Erdogan's new move to block first aid responses and treatment has crossed the threshold from government legislation into despotic repression, in flagrant violation of EU conventions on Human Rights
Erdogan has just signed into law a bill that would make a doctors punishable by law with incarceration for administering health care in first aid situations without the consent of the government.
The horrific legislation is aimed squarely at demonstrators, who would be unable to get care if the government deemed that their actions of protest caused injuries that would not meet the government's requirement for providing care.
Similar measures were, although not passed into law, used blatantly in Syria in the first years of the civil war, before medical structures were shuttered. Innocent civilians and rebels alike were forbidden from receiving care in a horrific repression carried out by Assad's army.
To make matters worse, Erdogan's counterpart, and possible election rival, the President of Turkey Abdullah Gul, eagerly subscribed the same law.
Doctors who carry out unsanctioned care could be jailed for three years and fined up to 1$ million dollars.
Criminalizing first aid, is a flagrant violation of human rights, especially in a country that has been granted memberhip in the European Union.
The legislation is also aimed at those doctors who would provide care outside of medical institutions, and therefore outside the reach and sight of the government or army, to those people who are injured in demonstrations or rebellious acts.
This is nothing new: during the Gezi park protests, many doctors complained that the army and police interfered with their ability to provide care to the injured.
Source : Al Jazeera/ 1.18.14
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