Turkey’s Health Ministry has fined over 100 obstetrician-gynaecologists for carrying out cesarean sections, temporarily suspended them from duty, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, adding that the authorities also required them to undergo additional training.

The doctors were penalised specifically for performing C-sections, with sanctions that include monetary fines, suspension from clinical work, and mandatory re-education. Medical associations across Turkey confirmed the figures, and the move has sparked backlash from healthcare professionals.

This follows the government’s April 2025 ban on elective C-sections at private healthcare facilities without medical justification.

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The policy is part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “Decade of the Family” initiative aimed at reversing the country’s falling birth rates and promoting what officials call “natural births”.

Turkey has the highest rate of cesarean deliveries among the 38 OECD nations. According to the report, in 2023, the most recent year with full data, about 615 out of every 1,000 live births were by C-section. That’s 61.5%.

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The Antalya Chamber of Physicians said on its official website that obstetricians had been “issued with warnings, subjected to disciplinary investigations, temporarily suspended from practising, and forced to attend antenatal training courses, on the grounds of high caesarean section rates across the country”.

As quoted in the report, Dr Ayse Gultekingil, who is a top official at the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), told BirGun that the action taken by the authorities is not enough as the issue was “structural”.

“Turkey’s cesarean birth rate exceeds 60 per cent. But the method of delivery reflects various problems within Turkey’s healthcare system,” she said as quoted.