Antalya health workers protest death of coworkers with black masks
Health workers in Turkey's southern province of Antalya on Aug. 31 protested the death of five of their colleagues in the province last week. The group hung black masks outside the local health directorate to ask for the government's redesign of COVID-19 precautions for health workers.
Duvar English
Members of the Antalya Medical Chamber on Aug. 31 hung black masks outside the provincial health directorate to protest the death of five of their coworkers in the province last week.
The health workers said that Turkey's management of the COVID-19 pandemic prioritized political gains over science and reason.
"The government has abandoned all health workers' selfless efforts in the name of 'normalization,' for economic stimulation and capital holders," the health workers said.
The health workers demanded that COVID-19 be considered a professional illness, allowing them and their family members to receive benefits should they contract the virus.
The group also requested that deceased health workers' families be financially supported, and that the COVID-19 management guidelines in Turkey be revised under "modern standards."