Sarah B. Barnes

Dr. Ihlas Altinci, MD

Creating Hope: A Physician Who Fled Syria’s War Builds a Haven for Other Women and Girls Displaced by Conflict

Syria’s civil war has created large volumes of human displacement. Dr. Ihlas Altinci had everything she could ever want, but when she was detained and accused of being a suicide bomber – her shoes matched the description of those the suspect was wearing – it made her realize she wasn’t as secure as she thought. She and her family left Aleppo for Turkey in 2013, in what was to be a stopover to Germany. Eight years later, she remains in Turkey where she is a sexual and reproductive health advisor for CARE in Gaziantep; she also manages projects and health facilities involving refugees and other populations in Syria. Dr. Ihlas, as she likes to be called, spoke with Sarah B. Barnes, Director of the Maternal Health Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson Center.