Turkish healthcare and labor union protests

The Physician Union (Hekim Birliği Sendikası) announced a three-day protest scheduled for late September 2026. The union is seeking improvements to economic and personal rights, better working conditions, and enhanced safety measures to prevent firearms and sharp objects from entering public health facilities. Specific protest actions include refusing outpatient services to patients without appointments through the Central Physician Appointment System and enforcing minimum appointment intervals.

Demands include increasing on-call wages, eliminating incentive deductions during annual leave, and increasing incentive distribution rates for dentists and physicians. Additionally, the union is calling for the doubling of fixed additional payments and the removal of financial deductions for family physicians during leave.

In related labor developments, healthcare unions have expressed concerns regarding professional solidarity, with calls for apologies following statements perceived to target the nursing profession. Simultaneously, labor representatives have protested official inflation figures, arguing that the actual cost of living and the poverty line have risen significantly beyond official statistics.