A young Syrian man died of a brain hemorrhage on Sunday after relatives found him seriously injured outside an İstanbul hospital where they say he had remained for two days after being taken there following a traffic accident, the Evrensel daily reported.
Bashar Al Tawil, 22, was taken by ambulance to the hospital after being struck by a motorcycle on August 1 in İstanbul’s Esenyurt district. His relatives, who were unable to locate him for two days, eventually found him outside the hospital after footage showing him lying on the ground circulated on social media. They said hospital staff told them his treatment had been completed.
Al Tawil was reportedly unable to speak or stand when he was found. His relatives took him to another hospital, where doctors diagnosed a brain hemorrhage and dangerously high pressure inside his skull. He was admitted to intensive care and died after nearly two weeks of treatment.
His relatives accused the first hospital of negligence, questioning how he had ended up outside the facility in such serious condition after being taken there by ambulance.
Al Tawil lived alone in Esenyurt, where he worked in the textile industry.
The İstanbul Provincial Health Directorate has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Al Tawıl’s treatment and death.
Syrian refugees in Turkey face a range of barriers to accessing healthcare despite being entitled to public health services under the country’s temporary protection system.
A UN refugee agency (UNHCR) report published in June documented a sharp decline in healthcare access among refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey, with the proportion reporting access to health services falling to 77.3 percent in 2025 from 96.4 percent, amid rising living costs and declining assistance.
A May study found persistent inequalities in healthcare access for Syrians in Turkey, with restrictive registration rules leaving a vulnerable group largely excluded from access to hospital care and Syrians making less use of emergency services than Turkish citizens.
