Afghan girl studying medicine in Türkiye dreams of treating patients in her country

By Sumeyye Dilara Dincer and Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat

ISTANBUL (AA) – An Afghan girl studying medicine in Türkiye dreams of treating patients in her country where the Taliban have banned girls and women from secondary and university education.

“The Taliban did not keep their promise, they do not allow women to either study or work,” Selgey Ismailhil, who is studying medicine in Istanbul University, told Anadolu Agency.

Ismailhil said she has dreamed of becoming a doctor since her father died when she was just six years old.

"My father would have wanted his daughter to be a doctor had he lived," Ismailhil said, adding she wants to help people as a good doctor and that her biggest dream was to treat patients in her country.

The Afghan girl, a child of a family with 14 children, is studying in Türkiye with the help of the Turkish Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities.

Ismailhil said it is "very important" for women to receive education, especially in medicine, adding that girls in Afghanistan should also study medicine.

She wants girls in Afghanistan to be allowed to continue their education and work.

"In some families, only one daughter of the household is working, now how will that household make a living when she is banned from working? The Afghan economy is already weak," she lamented.