Turkey: Doctors prefer to migrate to Europe to escape a dark future

Turkey is experiencing one of the worst economic crises in its history, which has led many Turks to consider migrating to a more stable European country. Masoud says he is leaving his job in a private hospital in Istanbul next year with his wife and two children for Germany. He is one of a growing number of highly skilled professionals who are leaving Turkey or want to leave – a trend experts say has accelerated in recent years as families struggle to keep up with rising living costs. “We have lost all hope for the future,” the 38-year-old anesthesiologist said. “When I talk to my colleagues and close friends, they are desperate.

Harsh conditions

Turkish doctors in particular say that their working conditions have worsened, with long working hours, increased physical and verbal abuse by patients or their relatives, bullying by superiors, AFP reported. In one of the recent attacks, a gunman shot dead heart doctor Akram Karakaya 15 times in July, blaming the doctor for his mother’s death. It added that economic problems in Turkey made migration more attractive, with inflation exceeding 83% and the Turkish lira losing about 30% of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year. Some say that until next year’s elections – in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will struggle to extend his two-decade rule – offer no hope for change. It added that a specialist in a Turkish government hospital earns an average monthly average of more than $100, but earns more than three times the minimum wage – He says he earns $2,000 per month, but even that is not enough. Life has become much more expensive. “We work hard but the money we get is worthless, and we are subjected to violence, beatings and abuse by patients and we have lost all motivation,” he said.

Government analgesics

In July, doctors’ salaries increased by 42% in the public sector, and reforms were introduced in August to further improve their economic conditions and protect them from violence. The regulations aim to limit the number of doctors leaving Turkey, and to curb the increasing trend of medical professionals switching from public to private hospitals to obtain better salaries. However, most of the government’s promises were considered by doctors as palliatives of the real crisis, which was and is still without a real solution.

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