The EPA subscribes the statement of the World Medical Association

In a statement released on 30 January 2018, the World Medical Association (WMA) has “expressed its grave concern over the arrests of leaders of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA).” Representatives of the TMA were detained after publicly voicing opposition to war, citing a desire to curb the “physical, psychological, social and environmental health problems” caused by continued military conflict.

The EPA, as a strong proponent of universal values and human rights, fully supports the WMA’s statement.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Psychiatric Association of Turkey, EPA President Silvana Galderisi, on behalf of the EPA Executive Committee, expressed her sympathy to colleagues in the TMA, and her readiness to assist in initiatives undertaken in support of Turkish psychiatrists and medical doctors. The Psychiatric Association of Turkey is a National Psychiatric Association Member (NPA) of the EPA.

Many other EPA NPAs strongly supported the statements by the EPA and the WMA. The list of the supporting NPAs can be found below:

• Armenian Psychiatric Association (Prof. Armen Soghoyan, President, Prof. Khachatur Gasparyan, Secretary General (Acting President), and Marietta Khurshudyan, CEO)
• Association of Neurologists, Psychiatrists and Narcologists of Ukraine (Prof. Petro Voloshyn, President, and Prof. Nataliya Maruta, Vice-President)
• Association of Psychiatrists of Spanish Association of Neuropsychiatry (Dr. Mikel Munarriz Ferrandis, President)
• Austrian Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Dr. Christa Rados, President)
• Azerbaijan Psychiatric Association (Prof. Fuad Ismayilov, Secretary for International Relations)
• Croatian Psychiatric Association (Prof. Vlado Jukic, President)
• Czech Psychiatric Association (Prof. Pavel Mohr, President Elect)
• Danish Psychiatric Association (Dr. Torsten Bjoern Jacobsen, President)
• French Congress of Psychiatry (Prof. Philippe Courtet, Official Representative)
• French Federation of Psychiatry (Dr. Jean-Jacques Bonamour Du Tartre, President, and Prof. Gisèle Apter, Board member)
• German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (Prof. Arno Deister, President, and Prof. Andreas Heinz, President Elect)
• Hungarian Psychiatric Association (Dr. Károly Molnar, President, and Prof. Tamás Kurimay, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee)
• Independent Psychiatric Association of Russia (Dr. Yury Savenko, President)
• Israel Psychiatric Association (Prof. Zvi Zemishlany, Secretary of Foreign Affairs)
• Italian Psychiatric Association (Prof. Bernardo Carpiniello, President)
• Lithuanian Psychiatric Association (Prof. Alvydas Navickas, President)
• Maltese Association of Psychiatry (Dr. Etienne Muscat, President)
• Polish Psychiatric Association (Prof. Agata Szulc, President)
• Portuguese Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health (Prof. Joao Marques-Teixeira, President, and Dr. Pedro Varandas, Vice President)
• Romanian Association of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Prof. Catalina Tudose, President)
• Royal College of Psychiatrists (Prof. Wendy Burn, President)
• Russian Society of Psychiatrists (Prof. Nikolay Neznanov, President)
• Serbian Psychiatric Association (Prof. Dusica Lecic-Tosevski, President)
• Slovak Psychiatric Association (Dr. Ľubomira Izakova, President, and Dr. Livia Vavrusova, Past President)
• Swiss Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Dr. Pierre Vallon, President)

To view the original statement issued by the WMA, please visit the WMA website.