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| Turkish doctors protesting in Ankara |
Turkish medical professionals are leaving the country in hopes of better living and working conditions. The Turkish Medical Association says that more than 80% of medical staff are leaving. Hundreds of doctors have left their jobs in Turkey in search of better opportunities.
"Almost 1 in 4 of my resident doctor friends are studying language courses. Most of them study German. They are completing the courses here and going to Germany as medical specialists. There is a very serious brain drain, a very serious drain, but I don't judge my friends because the profession has no real value here," said Tahsin Cinar, an anesthesiologist at a university hospital, who explains that doctors earn very little, Euronews reports.
In March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said doctors who wanted to go abroad could "go freely and leave". Later, he softened his tone and said he believed the doctors who went abroad would return home soon after Turkey promised them a "bright future".
"We can say that inflation is actually directly related to brain drain. Of course, before we focus on inflation, we need to focus more on the causes of inflation. The things that create inflation are Turkey's bad economic policy," said Enes Ozkan, an economist and researcher at Istanbul University.
Turkey is experiencing a deepening cost of living crisis. According to statistics, consumer prices increased by 4.95% on a monthly basis.