Fincanci: “I was free in prison, and I am just as free now”

Sebnem Korur Fincanci, the TTB President who had been sentenced to two years, eight months, and fifteen days imprisonment on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda appeared on Arti TV’s Special Agenda hosted by Irfan Aktan.

On the program, Fincanci analyzed the behind-the-scenes developments of the hearing at which she was released from pre-trial detention, the pressure policy towards the TTB, and why she was made a target.

To Aktan’s question, “Is being on the outside sufficient to make you feel free?” Fincanci responded:

“Just as being on the outside is not sufficient to make one feel free, neither does being on the inside make one feel as their freedom has been taken from them. Freedom is inside us. Freedom is how we look at life, how we live, and how we show the will to intervene as citizens… It is refusing to lose our activist soul as we continue to show the will to intervene. This is why I was free in prison, and I am just as free now. But I cannot be free on my own. Because compatriotism is a collective will, and when compatriotism does not exist for another, when it is suppressed, this actually constitutes an attack on my own compatriot identity. This is why we must all struggle together. I cannot remain a compatriot if someone else is refused this. Who is refused as a compatriot? The six-year-old child who is married off and subjected to sexual assault is refused as a compatriot. As such, we must protect our will to be compatriots all together, freedom can only come through our collective will. I say, let us be free together.”

Describing the developments in her trial, Fincanci said, “If it had been the head of the TTB Vice President, who is a neurosurgeon, or our General Secretary, who is a urologist, they wouldn't have been able to evaluate that issue... Yes, it's a video, people are exhibiting some symptoms in the video. I stated that those symptoms would occur with the effect of a substance, especially a gaseous substance.”

CHEMICAL WEAPONS ALLEGATIONS: “I SAID THAT THAT SUBSTANCE NEEDS TO BE EXAMINED”

Fincanci spoke as follows about the government's repression policies against the Turkish Medical Association:

"There is open-source research about us, such as tweets on Twitter, Facebook shares, Instagram posts. There seems to be nothing there either. They don't need to look there. They confiscated my phone and computer. They took their images. They took their images and kept them. What they did afterwards is a separate problem.”

“THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT LIKE OVERSIGHT”

Fincanci responded to questions about why she was being targeted as follows:

"The Turkish Medical Association professional union was the place that emphasized transparency in this process and wanted to overcome public uncertainty by sharing information.

Professional unions are bodies of oversight. They serve to shed light on the insufficiencies of the state and operate the mechanisms that enable society to take steps regarding these issues. But government institutions do not like such oversight.”

“THERE WILL BE A NEW ELECTION AT THE TTB”

Fincanci, who explained the procedure for establishing a new administrative board after the court proceedings, said, “In such a case, the board needs to be re-elected with the participation of 481 members. We receive criticisms that the participation is low, but 400 of our delegates came. 400 of 481 came. We are talking about a participation rate of nearly 80 percent here. This is a board that was voted in by two thirds of those who participated, that is more than 60%.”