Physician from Turkey Suspended from Duty in Germany Over LGBTI-Phobic Tweet
* Photo: Pixabay
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Shortly after President of Religious Affairs Ali Erbaş targeted LGBTI+ community with a hate speech in his Friday sermon on April 24, Metin Çakır, a cardiac surgeon from Turkey working at Helios Gesundheit clinic in Karlsruhe city of Germany, tweeted, "As a physician, I would like to indicate that homosexuality and transsexuality is an illness."
This tweet of the physician was met with public outrage from both Turkey and Germany. Amid rising fury on social media, Çakır deleted his tweet.
Statement, tweet by the clinic
Social media users also directed their criticisms to the clinic where Çakır was working as a cardiac surgeon.
As reported by the Bild, a Germany-based tabloid newspaper, Dr. Silke Bentner, who is responsible for public relations at the clinic, has announced the suspension of Metin Çakır from duty in following words:
"The employee operated all day today, so we could only ask him for a personal interview this afternoon to give him the chance to comment.
"Together with the employee, we decided to take a temporary leave of absence and are currently examining the possibilities of legal consequences.
"We will examine and assess the matter with the involvement of the responsible medical association. The employee has been working as a cardiac surgeon at our location for over 20 years and is recognized as a colleague in the team at the clinic."
'We will take legal action if necessary'
In response to criticisms on Twitter, the clinic has also tweeted:
"As a company, we promote the diversity of our employees. Diversity and inclusion are very important to us. The statements in question do not in any way correspond to the principles of action at Helios. We review the case internally and reserve the right to take legal action if necessary."
Als Unternehmen fördern wir die Vielfalt unserer Mitarbeiter. Diversität und Inklusion sind uns sehr wichtig. Die fraglichen Äußerungen stimmen keineswegs mit den Handlungsgrundsätzen bei Helios überein. Wir prüfen den Fall intern und behalten uns ggf. rechtliche Schritte vor.
— Helios Gesundheit (@Helios_Kliniken) April 29, 2020
'Hate against LGBTTIQ is not an opinion'As further reported by the Bild, the Netzwerk LSBTTIQ Baden-Württemberg, the largest queer network in the state released a written statement yesterday (April 29) and urged the Helios clinic to "take a more clear and public stance" and Çakır to express "a clear apology" for his remarks. "Neither offline, nor online: Hate against LGBTTIQ in not an opinion," has read the title of the statement. The network has briefly stated the following: "As early as 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from the list of diseases, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).In the future, transsexuality and transgender will no longer be listed as (mental) disorders in the new ICD, which will come into force from 2022 at the latest. Furthermore, numerous politicians, experts and representatives of LGBTTIQ organizations in connection with a legally planned ban on so-called 'conversion therapies' in Germany made it clear that LGBTTIQ do not need to be cured - because these are not diseases. "'It is not only stunned that such statements, contrary to current, recognized knowledge, are made by a doctor, it deeply upsets us,' says Susanne Hun, member of the speaking council of the LSBTTIQ Baden-Württemberg network. "'In view of the historical developments regarding the categorization of homosexuality as well as transsexuality and transgender as non-diseases, the statement by Dr. Metin Cakir is not just irresponsible, it is a clear hate speech against LGBTTIQ and their ways of life. Both offline and online must be true: hatred of LGBTTIQ is not an opinion!' "Tamara Kailuweit, also a member of the speaking council of the LSBTTIQ Baden-Württemberg network, adds: 'As reactions, we first request a clear, public statement from HELIOS Kliniken GmbH and a clear apology from Dr. Metin Cakir. Afterwards, the next steps and the continuous commitment for LGBTTIQ had to be discussed'." |
(EMK/SD)