Union takes protest action over doctor’s murder

The SES health union organised protests and work stoppages on 7-8 July in response to the murder of Cardiology Specialist Doctor Ekrem Karakaya at the city hospital in Konya in south central Turkey. The union is calling for action to ensure safe working environments, to enact effective legislation to combat violence and to abandon the kinds of health policies that it argues give rise to violence in the sector. It wants to see a health system that prioritizes prevention and the right to health and life rather than the provision of health services as a commodity. SES is also extremely concerned about funding for the health service and the critical situation caused by understaffing.