Turkey's controversial health workers bill amended

ANKARA

The Turkish Parliament approved a controversial bill on Nov. 15, which initially proposed strict restrictions on employing doctors who were dismissed with emergency decrees after adopting amendments to the respective article.

Doctors, who have been dismissed with emergency decrees for having links to terrorist groups and those who failed to get security clearances, will be working at private hospitals, in line with the amendments proposed to the fifth article of the bill by seven lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

In its original form, the article stipulated the reports prepared by dismissed doctors would not be used in judicial decisions and administrative procedures. This provision was also removed with the amendments.

The amendment also scrapped a provision, which stated that doctors who are banned from working at public institutions for failing to get security clearances will have to wait 600 days before starting their jobs.

Those doctors will now wait 450 days.