Who are Turkiye’s ‘Newborn Gang’ and why are they on trial?

A trial is holding Turkiye rapt as a group of medical professionals, suspected to have killed at least 10 newborns, goes on trial in a healthcare scam case.

Many suspect the number of infants killed may rise.

Here’s everything we know:

What’s the Newborn Gang? What did they do?

What has been dubbed the “Newborn Gang” comprises 47 medical professionals who are on trial for a scheme they allegedly started in January 2023.

They are charged with transferring newborns – under false pretences – from state to private neonatal units, where they were kept for prolonged periods and subjected to unnecessary treatments in return for cash payouts.

Chief among them is Firat Sari, a doctor whose company operated a number of neonatal units in private hospitals and is charged with setting up the scheme for his own benefit.

How does that work, moving patients from public to private hospitals?

Turkiye provides its citizens with free healthcare through a mixed public-private system.

Private hospitals treat patients when the public system cannot, in return for having their costs reimbursed by the government, based on the number of days the patient spent in the facility.

A main question emerging is how the private hospitals named in the trial were able to rent out their neonatal units to a private company like Sari’s when hospitals are expected to be responsible for all their operations.

Activists hold banners in Turkish that read: ‘Children shouldn’t be killed, so they can eat candies’, ‘I couldn’t play with my toys because I was killed’, and ‘If I had not been killed, this toy would have been my sleeping friend’ at a protest outside the Newborn Gang trial, in Istanbul, Turkiye, on November 18, 2024 [Khalil Hamra/AP Photo]

How did the babies die?

They were deliberately misdiagnosed and subsequently mistreated, according to charges.

The 47 defendants, according to a 1,400-page indictment, deliberately gave false diagnoses to get the newborns transferred to 19 private hospitals.

Ten of those private hospitals have now been closed as a result of the scandal.

What has the reaction been?

Intense anger.

“Turkish people are very particular about their children, they love children, they adore them,” English teacher Svetlana Lukicheva, who has lived in Istanbul for 10 years, said from a cafe overlooking the Aya Sofia mosque.

Defendant Ahmet Atilla Yilmaz, chief physician at the private Beylikduzu Medilife Hospital, said in mid-November that there was so much stigma surrounding the trial, he had difficulty finding a lawyer to represent him.

In Istanbul, the trial, expanded from a traditional courtroom to the conference hall of the Bakirkoy court, has been the object of intense scrutiny, each day documented in forensic detail.

Outside, protesters face-off against increased security, with demonstrations calling for private hospitals to be shut down and “baby killers” to be held accountable.

Speaking in mid-November, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that those responsible for the children’s deaths would face severe consequences. However, he cautioned against condemning the entire healthcare sector, saying, “We will not allow our healthcare community to be battered over a few rotten apples.”

A security member stands guard in front of the Bakirkoy court, on the opening day of the Newborn Gang’s trial, in Istanbul, November 18, 2024 [Kemal Aslam/AFP]

Is that the whole story?

Possibly not.

The case centres on the deaths of 10 newborns since January 2023, but an investigation cited by the Anadolu news agency suggests the gang’s actions may have led to the deaths of hundreds of babies over a longer time.

Currently, more than 350 families are petitioning prosecutors and government agencies to investigate the deaths of their children, The Associated Press news agency reported.

In mid-November, Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu denied any cover-up from his time as Istanbul’s health director – a post he held until earlier this year.

An inquiry into neonatal care began in January 2016 following an email complaint, he said, but had concluded in November that: “No evidence of harm to infants was found.”

Will private hospitals be shut down?

It is unlikely – they provide nearly 25 percent of Turkiye’s healthcare.

However, concerns over the extent of official oversight of private healthcare are gaining ground.

“We’re all sad about this, but we can’t judge all doctors because of it,” 46-year-old Musa Kara said from his barbershop in Sultanahmet, the oldest part of the city.

“I don’t want to see private hospitals closed, but I would like to see more controls over them,” he said through a translator.

‘Turkish people adore [children],’ Lukicheva tells Al Jazeera. Shown here are families walking along Galata Port in Istanbul, Turkiye, November 29, 2024 [Simon Speakman Cordall/Al Jazeera]