Doctors of the Year serve as army medics, help Syrians

The Ministry of Health is honoring 13 doctors as the "Doctors of the Year" for their exemplary work.

The doctors, among them medics serving in Turkey's Operation Olive Branch in Turkey and a volunteer to help treat Syrian refugees, were scheduled to be hosted at the Presidential Complex for an event on March 14 Medicine Day.

Dr. Koray Ünal and Dr. Reşit Anıl Yüksek won the award for their work at an emergency unit in Hatay, a Turkish city bordering Syria. The two doctors are being recognized for their emergency treatment of soldiers injured in the military operation in Syria's Afrin.

Dr. Hacı Sait Çelik, who works at a neighborhood clinic in central Bursa, a province in the northwest, is being hailed for his good ties with Syrian refugees. As the only doctor in the clinic and in the neighborhood who speaks Arabic, Çelik is popular among refugees and further admired for his volunteer work in other neighborhoods.

Dr. Çetin Aydın, a pediatrics physician at a public hospital in the eastern city of Siirt, was chosen for his volunteer work. Aydın is known for volunteering in medical operations outside his expertise in cases of disasters and for helping his colleagues in the treatment of soldiers wounded in counterterrorism operations.

Dr. Volkan Aktemur, who works at a clinic in the northeastern city of Ardahan, is credited with saving the life of a pregnant mother and her baby. When the mother refused to go to a hospital and insisted on giving birth in her residence despite the risk of death, Aktemur traveled past midnight to the remote village to convince her to do so otherwise.

Dr. Hüseyin Yenice hit the headlines when he was caught on CCTV applying cardiac massage on a stab victim for minutes as he was being taken to the operation room. Ultimately, the doctor working at a hospital in Bursa, helped save the life of the victim who suffered from a potentially fatal injury.

Dr. Tuğrul Çakır, a surgeon at a hospital in the southern city of Antalya, is being hailed for his efforts in an organ transplant. When Çakır was unable to reach a man awaiting transplant to tell him that he had a donor, he proceeded to call the patient some 100 times in 20 minutes and sent multiple texts. Ultimately, he managed to contact the patient and successfully performed the surgery.

Dr. Cahide Kurtuluş is recognized for working off-hours to help patients outside the neighborhood she works at a clinic in Tekman, a town in eastern Turkey.

Dr. Samet Akari, meanwhile, is credited with spearheading efforts to rescue a group of troops injured after being buried in an avalanche in the eastern city of Bitlis.

Dr. Abdullah Ömer Atsal from the western city of Balıkesir, is hailed for convincing more people to donate organs. ;

Dr. Ayşe İrem Sofuoğlu works as the only child pediatrics doctor in the northern city of Ordu. She is recognized for her around-the-clock work at a time of a shortage of doctors, routinely working off-hours voluntarily.

Dr. Ruşen Ersöz is being hailed for converting an old van into a mobile scanner against cancer in Batman in eastern Turkey.

Dr. Ömer Faruk Bilen, a doctor in Silopi, a southeastern town plagued with a campaign of terrorism by the PKK, is being hailed for his voluntary work at the emergency room of the hospital he works at. Despite threats from pro-PKK groups, including an attack that destroyed his car, he has rejected leaving the town.