Health Minister Memişoğlu Closes 10 Hospitals over Newborn Baby Gang
Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu has announced the closure of 10 hospitals where activities related to a newborn baby gang were taking place. President Erdoğan instructed them to take action, according to Minister Memişoğlu. Providing information about the investigation, Memişoğlu stated, “This operation was carried out six months ago. As a result, these individuals will face all kinds of consequences.”
Minister Memişoğlu addressed questions in a live broadcast regarding the newborn baby gang. Emphasizing that the gang was dismantled with the power of the state, Minister Memişoğlu mentioned that the operation had begun months ago and was conducted with great secrecy.
The following are key points from Minister Memişoğlu’s statements:
“We are very sorry. Unfortunately, we are talking about a ruthless gang that neglected and caused the death of our babies. As a father, I am deeply saddened. We dismantled this gang with the power of the state through highly confidential operations. This gang, unfortunately, did not possess any humanity, we do not call them healthcare professionals. Tips regarding newborns started coming in around the end of March 2023, and our inspection teams were monitoring. They couldn’t find any concrete evidence, but they noticed something was wrong and brought it to my attention. What did we do? We called in a supervisor from the financial bureau, I called him. Our legal advisor and the supervisor. We said we could find them through a very secret technical surveillance. Three ministries secretly initiated the operation. We had not anticipated that they could be ruthless enough to involve babies in their criminal activities.
“We worked very discreetly, trying to prevent baby transfers to hospitals. Our prosecutors put in a lot of effort. An operation was conducted against this gang on April 26, 2024. The financial bureau always asked us how they should conduct their investigation, and we sent in the doctors. We were already conducting continuous inspections in September 2023, October, and November, November 16, November 29, January 18, 2024, we were constantly monitoring them. We did not refer any cases to 112 throughout the year. The confidentiality order was lifted on April 27. 41 people were taken into custody, and 22 of them were arrested. The arrests, indictment, and investigation are ongoing. We dismantled a gang with just one complaint through CİMER. We, as the Ministry of Health, conduct all kinds of inspections. I want to tell our citizens, when a complaint comes in, we inspect. Let people not be suspicious, is there another case? We will not turn a blind eye to anyone. Today we closed down 10 hospitals.
President Erdoğan’s Instruction to “Take Action”
This operation was carried out six months ago. As a result, these individuals will face all kinds of consequences. Why did this come to light? Someone went to the prosecutor in Büyükçekmece, threatening them to release these criminals. This brought it back into the spotlight. The operation was actually supposed to be in the spotlight back then. We conduct these inspections without any room for error. The lives of our people, the lives of our babies are invaluable. Let people not worry. These criminals have also violated the rights of our healthcare professionals. It is our duty to root out such bad apples. They do not represent our healthcare workers. This was on our agenda 5.5 months ago. It is in the public eye today, but we conducted this operation 5.5 months ago. During our meeting with the President, he instructed, “I am behind you all the way, take action.” We are the good ones fighting against the bad ones. People should not be sad, we guarantee the health of the people. We dismantled this gang. I want the Turkish people to trust our healthcare professionals. Our healthcare system is one of the best systems. Our duty is to weed out these rotten apples. We conduct all kinds of inspections and controls.
The Threat to the Prosecutor Brought it Back to the Spotlight
We had already sent the inspection report to both the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior. Because the Social Security Institution (SGK) suffered financial losses. We coordinate with all our institutions. Doctors who do not belong in this profession will be evaluated. But in such a criminal environment, those hospitals will be sealed. Every tip that comes in is evaluated and forwarded to the relevant department. Let the public know this. If it weren’t for CİMER, if we hadn’t conducted this investigation, this confidential operation, these hospitals would still be operating. The threat to the prosecutor brought it back to the spotlight. Those who threatened have been arrested. These individuals will face all kinds of consequences. The image of the one who threatened to get these criminals out of prison is today’s reality.
“There are no shortcomings in our inspections”
Let’s not confuse these suspicious beings with our healthcare workers. I also have children, I am also a father. I was deeply saddened by those babies. However, my healthcare workers’ sorrow also affects me. We have expert reports for 11 babies. Everyone will see what is in those indictments. I am deeply saddened for those babies. Dismantling such a gang is our greatest consolation. We are ready to do everything we can. As long as there are humans, there will be all kinds of evil. But I say this. There are no shortcomings in our inspections. If we find another gang suspicion, we will dismantle it again. We want our society not to lose their morale. This is an exceptional situation.
