Twelve doctors, including İstanbul Provincial Health Director Ali İhsan Dokucu, yesterday traveled to Hebron and Ramallah to conduct medical screenings and perform operations, especially on cleft lips and hypospadias in children. The association, which has sent teams to Palestine on four other occasions, carried out operations on a total of 269 Palestinians during previous visits.Speaking prior to the trip, Professor İhsan Karaman, the head of Doctors Worldwide Turkey, said the group had provided health services to poor people around the world and was going to Palestine as part of a project named “Gülümseyen Çocuklar” (Smiling Children). Explaining that they perform operations under difficult conditions, Karaman said the team of doctors, which includes pediatric specialists and experts in plastic surgery, will work in shifts throughout the day. He noted that their association would also take part in efforts to repair Gaza’s education and health infrastructure.
Stating that countries have responsibilities toward each other, Dokucu said: “Providing health services is one of [these responsibilities]. It is also a conscientious and humanitarian responsibility. … Maybe only a few hundred patients will undergo medical treatment, but I believe that the event will have important reflections even if it involves a symbolic number.”
The group also includes Göztepe Education and Research Hospital Chief of Staff Dr. Hamit Okur and Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Deputy Dean Bekir Atik, who is also head of the university’s plastic surgery department.
