Turkish President criticised over preferential coronavirus care for VIPs

Medical groups say authorities have failed to protect health workers during the pandemic

A medic tends to a Covid-19 patient at the Ankara City Hospital's intensive care unit on October 5, 2020, in the Turkish capital. Getty

Turkey’s president has come under fire after his office revealed that his aides are tested daily for coronavirus, prompting claims of a two-tier approach to combating the pandemic.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin this week said in a TV interview that Turkey was demonstrating “how to protect a leader” when he revealed those coming into contact with the president received coronavirus testing every day.

Coming after the diagnosis of US President Donald Trump and other world leaders including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Mr Kalin’s remarks angered Turkish medical groups who have complained of insufficient testing and protection for health workers during the pandemic.

Mr Kalin also revealed Mr Erdogan had been isolated at the presidential mansion in Istanbul for 70 days during the outbreak and said the president received regular testing himself.

“Our president was very well protected there,” Mr Kalin said. “We didn't go out, we didn't get guests from outside with a very rare exception or two.”

Since the first coronavirus case was detected in Turkey in mid-March, health workers have protested against a lack of testing, personal protection equipment as well as a punishing workload due to busy coronavirus wards.

Mahya depicts Turkey's national flag which is installed between the minarets of Camlica mosque, as the outbreak of COVID-19 continues in Istanbul, April 28, 2020. Reuters

Turkish soldiers load medical protection equipment into a Turkish military cargo plane to be donated to the United States at the Etimesgut airport in Ankara, Turkey, April 28, 2020. EPA

A flight crew member stands in front of a donation of medical supplies from Turkey on April 28, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. The donation to help fight the new coronavirus in the United States included surgical masks, sanitisers and protective suits. AP Photo

Medical personnel participate in a briefing at Istanbul University Cerrahpasa - Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Hospital's ward dedicated to patients with coronavirus (COVID-19) in Istanbul, Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Turkey has seen a decline this week in the number of daily deaths and rates of infection since it started to grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic last month. The government has refrained from imposing a total lockdown, fearing its negative impact on the already fragile economy. (AP Photo/Mehmet Guzel)

An aerial view of Eminonu district during a two-day curfew imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 11, 2020. Reuters

epa08392157 Women walk with face masks in Istanbul, Turkey, 29 April 2020. Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan announced that there will be another curfew in 31 big cities, including Istanbul (the country's most populous urban agglomeration), between 01-03 May due to the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The government has also decreed the cancellation of public events and has temporarily shut down schools and suspended sporting events amid the pandemic. EPA/SEDAT SUNA

Esat Sahin, Imam of the iconic Fatih Mosque, holds a prayer held without public due to the coronavirus restrictions in Istanbul, April 24, 2020, during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

epa08392155 A man sleeps with face protective equipment on street in Istanbul, Turkey, 29 April 2020. Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan announced that there will be another curfew in 31 big cities, including Istanbul (the country's most populous urban agglomeration), between 01-03 May due to the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The government has also decreed the cancellation of public events and has temporarily shut down schools and suspended sporting events amid the pandemic. EPA/SEDAT SUNA

TOPSHOT - Health workers help a woman who tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, at Bagcilar in Istanbul, on April 28, 2019, in Istanbul. / AFP / Bulent Kilic

A Turkish military flight crew member, right, bumps elbows with a FEMA worker as crews unload a donation of medical supplies from Turkey, Tuesday, April 28, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The donation to help fight the new coronavirus in the United States included surgical masks, sanitizers and protective suits. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Health workers help a woman who tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, at Bagcilar in Istanbul, on April 28, 2019, in Istanbul. / AFP / Bulent Kilic

TOPSHOT - Employees of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality youth center sews face masks, in Ankara, Turkey, on April 28, 2020, amid the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus. / AFP / Adem ALTAN

Employees of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality youth center sews face masks, in Ankara, Turkey, on April 28, 2020, amid the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus. / AFP / Adem ALTAN

TOPSHOT - A man sanitises the room as Syrians who returned from Turkey rest at a quarantine facility in the countryside of the town of Jisr al-Shughur, west of the mostly rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib, on April 27, 2020 during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. / AFP / Abdulaziz KETAZ

Customers wearing protective face masks maintain social distancing while queuing before the opening of a bank branch in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday, April 27, 2020. Coming off a brief recession just over a year ago, the urgency is mounting for Turkey to loosen the screws on the economy as its currency and reserves come under pressure more than a month after it introduced social-distancing measures. Photographer: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg

A health worker measures the temperature of a man at a quarantine facility for Syrians who returned from Turkey in the countryside of the town of Jisr al-Shughur, west of the mostly rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib, on April 27, 2020 amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. / AFP / Abdulaziz KETAZ

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality workers spray a street with disinfectant to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday, April 27, 2020. Coming off a brief recession just over a year ago, the urgency is mounting for Turkey to loosen the screws on the economy as its currency and reserves come under pressure more than a month after it introduced social-distancing measures. Photographer: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg

A lone pedestrian walks across an empty Taksim square during curfew in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday, April 26, 2020. Coming off a brief recession just over a year ago, the urgency is mounting for Turkey to loosen the screws on the economy as its currency and reserves come under pressure more than a month after it introduced social-distancing measures. Photographer: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg

Last month, opposition MP Gamze Akkus Ilgezdi revealed that 800 medical staff have resigned during the pandemic.

Gonul Erden, co-chair of the Health and Social Service Workers’ Union, said 110 staff had died from Covid-19 and at least 40,000 had been infected.

“This is the responsibility of the power that tests itself every day but does not test health workers,” she said, referring to checks on Mr Erdogan’s staff.

Zekiye Bacaksiz, president of the General Health-Work Union, called for a minimum of weekly testing for health staff.

“But when we suggested that, [the government] said ‘You can’t do it’,” she said. “We see that everything is for them. They are keeping up all kinds of luxury and pomp. They don’t even have an egalitarian testing policy.

“This is a situation that shows that the AKP government always prioritises itself and looks out for its own interests.”

Mr Kalin’s comments added to the perception that those close to the government have benefited from preferential treatment in the approach to tackling coronavirus.

Paramedics in the capital Ankara told the opposition BirGun newspaper last month that they were directed to give priority to "VIP patients" over more serious coronavirus cases. These VIPs were often politically-connected people or those with ties to Health Ministry officials.

“They’ll directly say ‘This is a VIP patient’ and redirect us even if we’re going to another house,” one ambulance worker told the newspaper, adding that even asymptomatic “VIPs” were given priority over other cases.

There are also claims that restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus are not applied evenly.

Days after a government decree imposing limits on wedding parties, images emerged of the marriage of a ruling party MP’s son where attendees flouted the rules on the number of guests, serving food, social distancing and wearing masks.

Turkey has recorded more than 9,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic and a total of 340,450 patients as of Wednesday evening. However, last week Health Minister Fahrettin Koca admitted that the number of patients did not include asymptomatic cases as required by the World Health Organisation.

Nearly 12 million tests have been carried out.

Medics’ representatives, who have consistently questioned the government’s approach to the pandemic and the veracity of its data, have come under increasing pressure in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, Mr Erdogan described the newly elected head of the Turkish Medical Association as a “terrorist”, a reference to her conviction two years ago for signing a letter calling for peace in Turkey’s majority-Kurdish southeast.