Syria medical workers demand pay equality with Turkish staff in rebel-held north

Syrian medical workers in the country's north organised protest vigils on Wednesday demanding pay equality with Turkish staff.

Syrian employees receive lower salaries and allowances than their Turkish counterparts working in the same region, with the minimum wage for a Turkish doctor being three times the highest amount earned by Syrian doctors.

The protests were organised in towns including Afrin, Al-Bab and Jarablus in Aleppo province, where Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are in control, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister service, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reported.

Al-Bab hospital doctor Abdel-Monem Waki told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed the medical workers will carry on their fight until they receive rights previously agreed with states and organisations funding healthcare institutions in northern Syria.

The agreements specify wages of $1,200 per month for doctors and $400 for nurses, according to Waki.

He demanded the Turkish government compensate medical workers for the shortfall in their wages since 2017, when Ankara began overseeing medical centres in areas of Aleppo province controlled by Turkish forces and their Syrian allies.

Turkey's health ministry ignored demands for equal pay made by medical workers at the end of July.

Fahd Al-Dakhel, an Al-Rai hospital emergency department technician and protest participant, said the protesters are demanding contracts which describe staff as volunteers be changed to refer to them as workers.

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He said they are also calling for an increase in their salaries and compensation for previous years.

Workers will escalate their action and may go out on strike if the Turkish government does not respond to their demands, according to Al-Dakhel.

The protests came after salary scales for Syrian workers in Turkish-controlled parts of Syria were leaked in July.

Syrian medical staff issued statements afterwards protesting "discrimination".

Turkey's health ministry oversees hospitals created after 2017 in northern Aleppo province after two military operations saw Ankara-supported rebels take control there.