A 23-YEAR-old Turkish Cypriot refused treatment in Turkey after he was beaten by his officer during military service has gone back to the north where he is recovering after a kidney transplant at the Paraskevaidion Surgical and Transplant Foundation two weeks ago.
Dervan Tureray was released from the foundation on Monday, following a successful transplant and returned back to the occupied areas, an official at the centre said yesterday.
The Cyprus Mail reported the incident last week, after Turkish Cypriot opposition paper Afrika highlighted Tureray’s plight to find a kidney, following the injury several years ago. The paper said the Turkish commander of his army unit in the north had thrashed him with a “justice stick”, because he was late returning from leave. The beating was so severe he lost function of one of his kidneys, the paper said. But when Tureray sought to have a transplant in Turkey he was told his mother could not serve as a donor as she was not a match.
The Paraskevaidion Foundation did not know any of the intricate details of the case.
“We do not know any such details,” said the source. “All we know is his doctors in the north sent him to the general hospital here and he was then referred to us.” This was the second operation the Foundation had carried out on a Turkish Cypriot and others were on the waiting list, she said.
“We do not discriminate between nationalities or ethnicities,” the official stressed.
Besides, as a Turkish Cypriot with Cypriot nationality, the patient was eligible for free medical care.
“He did not pay for the operation. It is paid for by the government,” she said.
Tureray appeared to be in good psychological condition when he left for home on Monday. The five-hour procedure was very successful and surgeons were pleased with the results. Although there is always a fear of organ rejection, the youth was recuperating well, she said.
“We just spoke to his brother today, because Tureray does not speak any English, and he is fine. Initially he will come in twice a week for checkups, then in due course this will be extended to once a week, once every fortnight, once a month and finally once every two months.” He will have to have these checkups to ensure his kidney is functioning properly for the rest of his life, she said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
