Health Ministry slams Der Spiegel over ‘newborn gang’ story

ANKARA

The Turkish Health Ministry has criticized the German magazine Der Spiegel over its report regarding the scandal of the “newborn gang” that shook Türkiye at the end of last year.

More than 40 suspects, including doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers, stand accused of orchestrating fraudulent diagnoses to facilitate the transfer of newborns to private hospitals, where they were allegedly subjected to prolonged intensive care treatments, causing the death of at least 10 infants.

In the recent article titled, “Erdoğan’s newborn mafia problem,” Der Spiegel focused on the possibility that senior officials within Türkiye’s public institutions might also have profited from this illicit operation.

In response, the Turkish ministry issued a rebuttal in German, asserting that the article was rife with disinformation and manipulation.

The statement underscored that Der Spiegel unfairly targeted the very public institutions that had uncovered and dismantled the newborn network.

Additionally, the ministry criticized the German magazine for selectively drawing links between the criminal network and the government while deliberately omitting any mention of connections between the ring’s detained members and Türkiye’s political opposition.

One of the defendants was a municipal council member from Istanbul, affiliated with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Moreover, the ministry refuted the magazine’s claims regarding the distribution of public and private hospitals in Türkiye, accusing it of distorting statistical data to mislead its readership.

“Der Spiegel employs a deceptive tactic by comparing the sheer numerical count of public and private hospitals, failing to consider actual bed capacity. In reality, only 33.58 percent of Istanbul’s total bed capacity belongs to private healthcare facilities.”

“For comparison, 2022 Eurostat data indicates that, out of Germany’s total hospital bed capacity of 642,107, a mere 39.77 percent is within the public sector.”