A Turkish professor has alleged that residents of Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır (Amed) were used as guinea pigs for an untested COVID-19 treatment in 2020.
Prof Dr Cenap Ekinci, a faculty member at Dicle University Medical School, claimed that some patients at Gazi Yaşargil Training and Research Hospital died after being subjected to the ‘Turkish Beam Treatment’ during the coronavirus pandemic. Ekinci asserted that Diyarbakır residents were used as test subjects without proper protocols.
According to Ekinci, a special flight arrived at Diyarbakır Airport carrying a team of five health workers and two civilians, led by a renowned professor specialising in diseases of the chest. The team’s goal was allegedly to sell a device to the Turkish Health Ministry that could treat COVID-19 in the blood without medication.
“The Ministry did not want to purchase this device because it had no scientific basis. It had not been applied anywhere in the world, and no experiments or phase studies had been conducted on the device,” Ekinci stated. He added that a person known only by the initials M.S., allegedly a relative of a minister, insisted on testing the device and reporting results quickly.
Ekinci claimed that experiments were conducted on patients for three days without informing either them or their relatives. He also alleged that some patients supposedly treated with the ‘Turkish Beam’ method later died.
The professor called for an investigation into why Diyarbakır was chosen for these trials, how many citizens were used as test subjects, and who was responsible for the decision. He also asked who owned the private jet used by the team.
In response to these allegations, the news agency Mezopotamya Ajansı reached out to Ekinci, who stated, “My claim stands, the evidence is there. They didn’t do it covertly; they did it overtly. It was a time when the country was unattended.”
Diyarbakır Provincial Health Director Dr Cihan Tekin and Cardiovascular Surgeon Prof Dr Hikmet Selçuk Gedik announced the application of the “Turkish Beam Treatment” at Diyarbakır Training and Research Hospital at a press conference on 26 June 2020. They claimed that the experimental treatment, developed by Turkish scientists, was first administered to a 46-year-old COVID-19 patient in intensive care, who reportedly tested negative after the procedure. The event, which was broadcast by the anti-Kurdish far-right Ulusal TV, was portrayed as a significant medical breakthrough for Diyarbakır and for Turkey, despite the fact that the treatment bypassed established medical protocols and ethical standards.
The Diyarbakır Chamber of Medicine has called on officials to make a public statement regarding these allegations, urging a thorough investigation and posing several critical questions:
Did the Ministry of Health know about this research? Did the COVID-19 Scientific Committee know about it?
Was there legal permission to conduct this treatment? If so, through which institution was it obtained?
Who owns the aircraft mentioned in the statement?
What role did companies selling medical supplies under agreement with Turkey’s Social Security Department play in this?
Why was Diyarbakır Education and Research Hospital chosen for this experiment?
What promotions did the officials who turned a blind eye to this experiment subsequently receive?
How many patients were treated with this method after medical treatment was stopped? What were the clinical outcomes for these patients?
The Chamber of Medicine statement also said, “The public must be informed. These allegations also constitute a criminal complaint and therefore judicial and administrative investigations should be initiated immediately. Our in-depth research on the matter will continue, and we will keep the public informed.”
