Iranians Follow Turkey's Election With Awe And Admiration
Amid popular demands for democracy and free elections, Iranians have exhibited an unusual degree of interest in Turkish elections for the first time.
Amid popular demands for democracy and free elections, Iranians have exhibited an unusual degree of interest in Turkish elections for the first time.
Many Iranians didn't sleep all night after the polls closed in Turkey on May 14 and keenly followed election results on Iranian and international media, partly because of what an Iranian Twitter user noted as a similarity between the Turkish elections and the disputed Iranian presidential election in 2009.
International relations commentator Ehsan Movahedian wrote about the similarity: "The bipolar situation in Turkey is reminiscent of the 2009 election and its bitter consequences. Erdogan's provocative speeches reminds one of Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The United States and Israel are lurking to take advantage of the situation and Iran is worried."
Just hours after polls closed in 2009, the regime announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had wone the election in the first round. Millions of voters and the losing candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi disputed the hasty announcement and months of protests ensued. Thousands were arrested, dozens killed, and the mechanism of repression received a huge boost.
During the past few days, military forces in northeast Iran, which borders Kurdish populated eastern Turkey were put on a state of alert to control possible demonstrations following a likely victory by the opposition coalition leader Kamal Qelichdaruglu [Kilicdaroglu], social media reports said.
When the results were finally declared Monday morning, May 15, and incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qelicichdaruglu went through to take part in the run-off election in two weeks' time, Iranians began to ask themselves on social media where did all the interest in Turkish election come from.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry congratulated Erdogan and called the result "a victory for democracy." That was a very meaningful message from a country where a similar election in 2009 led to serious political strife with lasting deep wounds that seriously dented the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.
The Twitter accounts of Iranian newspapers constantly updated the results throughout the night as they came in from Turkish media.
Iranian journalist Sadegh Alhosseini called the election a miracle, and called on Iranians to compare Erdogan's legacy with political dynamics in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Another Iranian journalist, Mehdi Rahbar, wrote: "This was the toughest challenge Erdogan faced during the past 20 years. And it is going tougher for him in the run-up election although Qelichdaroglu does not have a smooth path ahead of him either."
Yet another Iranian journalist, Mohammad Motlagh wrote Sunday night: "Iran is the biggest winner of Turkey's election. If Erdogan wins, that would be the beginning of the decline of NATO and probably conflicts between Turkey and Greece; and if Qelichdaroglu wins, it means harnessing the war in Caucasia [Armenia-Azerbaijan], reduction of tensions in Syria and Iraq and more interest in Russia to get closer to Iran."
Iranian academic Fatemeh Shams wrote: "Erdogan's defeat makes me happy as Iran's defeat will do. Do not underestimate Erdogan and his Mafia's corruption and radicalism. If the opposition wins the election in Turkey many dynamics will change in the region."
Iranians saw the Turkish vote as democracy in action. As Iranian journalist Amir Hossein Mossala Pointed out, "No matter which candidate wins the election, the people of Turkey are its winners. They do not have leaders with absolute powers for life. There is no engineered election and arbitrary vetting of candidates in Turkey."
As an Iranian social media user observed, "Both sides have claimed victory, but [unlike Iran in 2009] no one attacked Qelichdaroglu's campaign or arrested its staff. SMS service has not been cut off, observers have not been expelled from polling stations, and Erdogan's supporters did not take to the streets with clubs in their hands. Turkey did not welcome darkness."
However, the head of Medical Council, Mohammad Rais-Zadeh, said Sunday that no hijab-related case has been sent to the council so far.
The ruling follows reports of a doctor refusing to accept a veiled patient in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
In February, a medical office in the northeastern Iranian city of Kashmar was shut when a doctor there objected to a woman harassing a patient over her “improper clothing”.
Earlier in February, Iran’s Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said violation of hijab regulations is considered a crime at hospitals and if they do not abide by hijab regulations, they will not receive approval to operate. He added that public hospitals have been required to comply with the hijab law and provide services to women by female staff.
“Women's ultrasound should be performed by women, and in some cases that we do not have enough radiologists, we ask female general practitioners and gynecologists to be given short-term training,” underlined the minister.
The clerical regime continues to strictly enforce the "mandatory hijab", despite the mass protests that followed the death in custody last September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the morality police for defying modesty rules.
About a month before the death of Mahsa Amini, the so-called morality police had started patrolling medical and academic centers in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad to enforce compliance with the Islamic dress code. Social media users earlier reported the presence of teams from what the Islamic Republic calls the ‘Enjoining right and forbidding vice headquarters’ in various wards of hospitals and medical centers in other cities, with some reports of pressures on hospitals to separate male and female patients admitted to the ICU.
The uprising has made it increasingly difficult for the clerical regime to enforce the mandatory Islamic dress code. Appearing in public without a full veil has become a common sight even in small and more conservative towns. Since the beginning of the ‘Women, Life, Liberty’ movement in September last year, thousands of girls and women have set fire to their headscarves in a symbolic move and voiced opposition to compulsory hijab.
Rais-Zadeh also voiced his concern over the low income of doctors and surgeons, saying current wages mean no one would study for many years to qualify.
Iran’s medical profession is facing a crisis as more and more doctors leave the country for better wages and working conditions.
Driven by economic and professional problems, as well as lack of social and political freedoms, an increasing number of Iran's healthcare professionals emigrate.
There are no transparent data on the emigration of healthcare and other professionals, but medical officials and lawmakers often offer fragmentary information on the scope of the problem. The number of doctors emigrating has more than doubled in the past decade, according to one report.
Thousands of physicians, dentists, midwives, and nurses have either emigrated in the past few years or are planning to leave for other countries. Many in Iran, including lawmakers, have repeatedly warned that the ever-increasing desire of healthcare professionals to leave will result in the deterioration of the country’s healthcare system.
In February, Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, a member of the central council of Iran's Nurses’ Organization, said between 2,500 to 3,000 nurses were emigrating from Iran each year, based on the number of requests for good standing certificates, confirming that the applicant is entitled to practice medicine in the country.
The average salary for a doctor in Iran is about $400 per month, against ten as much or more in the US and UK. Physicians and other health professionals’ maximum fees as well as private hospitals’ tariffs are set and announced by the government annually.
Mohammad-Ali Mohseni-Bandpey, a member of the parliament health committee, said last year that wrong government policies affecting doctors included ignoring their needs and demands and refusing to allow them to raise their fees despite higher costs of living and running their practices. According to Mohseni-Bandpey, despite an almost 50 percent annual inflation rate, the government is trying to prevent a similar increase in doctors’ fees, to keep healthcare costs down. He suggested that the government should allow them to increase their fees but shift the burden to insurance companies rather than patients.
Doctors in Iran must also contend with a lack of adequate medical equipment and resources.
With fewer doctors available to provide care, the quality of medical care in Iran is declining, especially in rural areas, where access is already limited.
Moreover, medical schools are struggling to attract and retain students, leaving the future of the medical profession in Iran in doubt.
A major investment in the healthcare system, as well as increased funding for medical schools and hospitals is required to salvage the situation and stop the flood of emigrating doctors. However, Iran’s dire financial plight means such investment is impossible for the foreseeable future.