A Turkish prosecutor ordered the detention of 11 senior members of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) on Tuesday, including its chairman, after the body criticised Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria. 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. The association’s lawyer Ziynet Ozcelik said that the doctors faced accusations of “propaganda in support of a terrorist organization, and provoking the public”. The World Medical Association (WMA) said its President Yoshitake Yokokura condemned the detentions as well as threats of violence made against the doctors. Those detained included the group’s Chairman Alparslan Kuytul, who had made remarks deemed to be criticising Turkey’s military offensive.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 30, 2018 12:11 UTC