SKOPJE, North Macedonia 

Based in Istanbul, a Turkish doctor travels to North Macedonia around a dozen times a year to do volunteer surgery on such ailments as cancer.

Dr. Hasan Fezvi Batirel, a professor at Istanbul’s Marmara University, does some 40 free surgeries a year at the Sister Theresa Clinical Center in the capital Skopje.

“Beyond doing surgeries, I aim to train personnel,” Batirel told Anadolu Agency.

A specialist in thoracic surgery, Batirel does lung, esophagus, and cancer surgeries in Macedonia twice a month.

“There’s really a young, energetic team here, an excited team,” he said, adding that he has seen them learn a lot.

Batirel stressed that lung and esophagus surgery is a specialized field, adding that a longer-lasting and continuous guidance process is needed, not just short-term collaboration.

“If my colleagues here continue to develop their skills quickly, this center will become one of the few European thoracic surgery centers within the next five years,” he said.

Batirel also praised the quality of Turkey physicians as well as the equipment and services offered by private, state, and university hospitals.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur