On January 30, 2018 eleven members of the Central Council of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA) were arrested after realeasing a brief public statement affirming that war in Syria is a human-made public health problem and that the medical profession has an obligation to defend life and help to build an environment of peace. President Erdogan denounced the "so-called Turkish Medical Association” as "terrorist-lovers". He was reported two days later as saying: "They are not intellectuals, they are a gang of unthinking slaves... They are the servants of imperialism. The PHM calls on health professionals and social movements everywhere to condemn the arrest and charge of the TMA officials and to demand the dropping of all charges and full restitution. To speak for their human rights is to defend our own. Read the PHM letter to BMJ. The PHM letetr is signed by 165 individuals and 39 organizations.