Police detained two persons, a Ukrainian and a Russian, as the latter tried to sell his kidney to the former through an illegal transplant.
Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a private hospital in Istanbul’s Şişli district and caught the Ukrainian national, V.P., and the Russian national, A.K., who was to receive $15,000 (TL 260,609) from the Ukrainian recipient in exchange for his kidney. Organ transplants between people not related require a medical board overview and the suspects had forged documents, posing as “uncle and nephew” to deceive the hospital staff. When the staff ran genetic tests on the duo, they discovered they were not related as they claimed and alerted the police.
Public broadcaster TRT Haber said the Ukrainian man has been awaiting a kidney transplant for the past five years and found the donor about three months. “I was watching an online video on organ transplant and came across a post by someone for transplant. I contacted him and he directed me to the donor,” he told the police.
Turkey's advanced health care sector draws more and more health tourists to the country but it also attracts organ traffickers from other countries, seeking to arrange surgeries between their customers and donors at Turkish hospitals. In 2020, authorities busted a Turkish organ trafficking ring pairing Bulgarian nationals in need of transplants with fellow citizens.
In line with Turkish law, an organ transplant from a donor not related to the recipient is required to be inspected by a medical ethics board.
