Turkey to hire Syrian doctors at refugee health centers

ISTANBUL

Syrian doctors and medical personnel will be employed at health centers for Syrian refugees, Turkey’s Health Minister said Sunday.

“Syrian doctors and health care staff will be working in those [centers]. We gave them some training. We are doing exams. We have seen that they have had good training in general,” Recep Akdag said during a meeting on health services in Istanbul.

“Most of them cannot get an equivalence in Turkey because they cannot find addressee on the other side, but they have diplomas in their hands,” Akdag added, referring to the Syrian side.

Akdag said the new system, which would allow Syrian doctors to serve Syrians refugees in Turkey, is being developed and that there are 27 health centers for refugees and work is being done to improve them.

Turkey now hosts 3 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.

It has spent $25 billion to help and shelter refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Reporting by Emin Ileri;Writing by Handan Kazanci