In the early hours of 26 October 2022, police detained Prof Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the head of the Union of Turkish Medical Associations. A criminal investigation was launched against Prof Fincancı, a prominent human rights defender and forensic medicine expert, after she called for an independent investigation into allegations that Turkish armed forces might have used chemical weapons in Kurdistan Region of Iraq in comments during a live TV interview. Prof Fincancı must be released immediately and unconditionally from detention and must not be prosecuted for her human rights work.