Turkish Journal of Surgery
ISSN: 2564-6850
e-ISSN: 2564-7032

IN MEMORY OF A VALIANT MAN

Semih Baskan

Turkish Surgical Society

Turkish Surgery bid farewell to a very important and valuable name on December 5. As one of the founders of the Turkish Surgical Association and having served in this association for 20 years without interruption, Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner passed away, leaving behind significant services and valuable memories.

When we take a look at Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner's CV, it is understood that he was born in Ankara in 18.07.1940, attended primary school in Samsun Havza Primary School, secondary school in Edremit Secondary School and high school in Balıkesir High School.

His Academic Career (1):

Figure 1. Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner (1940-2022).

He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Medicine in 1964, which he entered in 1957. The same year, he started his specialization training at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine 1st Surgery Clinic. He completed his training in 1968 and became a specialist in the field of general surgery. The subject of his specialization thesis was "Complications After Goiter Surgeries and Their Treatment" (2).

Following his specialization, he worked in the field of peripheral vascular surgery at Evangelishes Krakenhaus Mülheim-Ruth and Evangelishes Kra-kenhaus-Ratingen in West Germany. After having returned home, he completed his military service in Erzurum Marshal Çakmak Hospital in 1972-1973. He became an associate professor in 1975 at Ankara Medical Faculty 1st Surgery Clinic, which he returned to following his military duty. He continued working as a lecturer in this clinic and received the title of university professor in the field of general surgery in 1980 as an inactive and as an active member in 1982.

After having received the title of professor, he continued his teaching duties in the same clinic. Dr. Altan Tüzüner worked in the peripheral vascular surgery unit as of 1992 in line with the decision of the Faculty Board dated 14 December 1995 and numbered 32/95, which had been initiated by Prof. Dr. Semih Baskan, Dean of Medicine of Ankara University (3).

Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner served as the Head of the Department of General Surgery at Ankara Medical Faculty between 1997- 2006 (4).

He made invaluable contributions to the training and expertise of many young general surgeons during his term as the head of the department and as a lecturer. Along with Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yaycıoğlu, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Ceylan, and Prof. Dr. Dikmen Arıbal, he contributed to many eye-opening works in the field of peripheral surgery. He retired in 2006 due to the age limit in Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, where he had assumed important duties. He worked in the general surgery clinic for 42 years without interruption, where he started his life as a surgeon as a resident (4). Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner made invaluable contributions to the education and training of two of the previous presidents of the Turkish Surgical Society, Prof. Dr. Semih Baskan and Prof. Dr. Seher Demirer, and current President of Turkish Surgery Association, Prof. Dr. Serdar Karaca at Ankara Medical Faculty.

After his retirement, he continued his duties as chairman and lecturer in the Department of General Surgery, Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine until 2014.

Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner's valuable contributions and efforts to Turkish Surgery begin with his participation as a founding member in the establishment of Ankara Surgical Society in 1976 (5).

Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner's duties at the Turkish Surgical Society:

Member of the board of directors between 1990-1992, general secretariat for two terms between 1992-1996, chairman of the board of directors for two terms between 1996-2000, second chairman between 2002-2004, chairman of the board of directors between 2004-2006, second chairman between 2006-2008, and member of the board of directors between 2008 and 2010 (Table 1).

Table 1. Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner’s duties at the Turkish Surgical Society (6)

The Turkish Surgical Society, which gathered in the offices of our colleagues who were members of the board of directors since the day it was founded, eventually found a headquarters in Ankara on Sağlık Street in 1989 with the authorization it received from the general assembly. This headquarters, which was purchased paying 40 million TL in 01.02.1989, was put into service in 20.11.1989 at Sağlık Street No: 11/5 (7).

Figure 2. Meeting of the Turkish Surgical Association Board of Directors in the new center, including Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner (8).

Figure 3. Our first headquarters on Sağlık Street.

Figure 4. The title deed of our first headquarters purchased by the Turkish Surgical Association in Ankara on Sağlık Street No: 11/5.

Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner served as the chairman of many congresses during his 20 years at the Turkish Surgical Society. To list them, he chaired the National Surgery Congress 1998, Eurosurgery 2000, National Surgery Congresses 2004 and 2006, Second Experimental Surgery Congress 2003, Third Experimental Surgery Congress 2005, 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th Regional Surgery Congresses (Table 2) (9).

Table 2. National Surgery Congresses, Experimental Surgery Congresses and Regional Surgery Congresses chaired by Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner


Figure 5. Regional Surgery Congress, 15-17 October 1992, Trabzon. Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner and the Congress Organization Committee.

At the Eurosurgery 2000 Congress, under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner, a trail was blazed and the Executive Committee started its journey by having concluded the elections for the Turkish Surgical Society Competency Board. In this congress, the selected Proficiency Executive Board performed the written examination phase of the proficiency board exams for the first time. Those who were successful at this stage entered the Objective Original Clinical Examination stage in Ankara on March 17, 2001. Candidates who passed both stages were awarded the Turkish Surgery Association Competency Board Certificates. In this regard, Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner's intense efforts and encouragements should never be forgotten.

In order to explain the problems general surgeons faced especially in the field of malpractice following the implementation of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237, which entered into force on September 26, 2004, Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner, former Minister of Interior and one of the former lecturers of our general surgery clinic, Assoc. Dr. Ülkü Güney, held meetings with Prof. Dr. Semih Baskan, Minister of Justice, Cemil Çiçek, and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Köksal Toptan.

As mentioned above, the contributions of Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner to the field of peripheral vascular surgery in our country should never be forgotten. He was among the founding members of the Vascular Surgery Society in Türkiye. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors four times between 1986-1988, 1988-1990, 1990-1992, and 1992- 1994 and as a Member of the Board of Directors between 1984-1996 and 2000-2002 (Table 3). (10).

Table 3. Duties of Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner in the Vascular Surgery Society

The most important and meaningful service Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner performed within the body of the Turkish Surgical Society was the construction and opening of the new headquarters of the Turkish Surgery Society, located on a green area of 1666 square meters with a closed area of 450 square meters, in Ümitköy, Ankara, with his personal efforts. This modern building has 2.5 floors, with a 120-person conference hall, kitchen and other support units on the ground floor. On the upper floor, there are rooms for the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the meeting room of the Board of Directors, secretariat and other administrative units. On the lower floor, there are rooms where polyclinic services would be provided and an archive room (11).

Figure 6. Headquarters of the Turkish Surgical Society in Ümitköy.

At the ceremony held for this headqaurters, which was put into service on May 8, 2004, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Surgical Society, Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner, thanked our late Presidents Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yaycıoğlu, Prof. Dr. Şadan Eraslan, Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Sanaç and Board Member Operator Dr. Kemal Altay and showed an example of loyalty by having their wives cut the ribbons (12). Headquarters of the Turkish Surgical Society, which adds a different meaning to the environment with its contemporary appearance, is located right next to the park built in memory of Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, who was brutally murdered in 1999.

Figure 7. Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner and wives of our late presidents in the opening ceremony.

Figure 8. Title deed of the land we bought in Ümitköy.

Today, scientific meetings and courses for young surgeons are held in this contemporary center of the Turkish Surgical Society. Sixty-nine courses were held here between 2010-2022. Three courses are planned to be held this year. In addition to these activities, the second stage exams of the Turkish Surgical Society Proficiency Committee are also held here.

In the last general assembly held at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine in 12.06.2022, Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner served as the Chairman of the Council. At this general meeting, Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner was elected to the Honorary Board. Most recently, Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner was a member of the Turkish Surgery History Research Commission of the Turkish Surgical Society.

Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner's wife, Prof. Dr. Filiz Tüzüner, like himself, is a graduate of Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, received her specialization in the same faculty and served as the head of the anesthesia and reanimation department at the same faculty between 1994-2010. prof. Dr. After her retirement, Filiz Tüzüner started to work as a faculty member in the Department of Anesthesia and Reanimation, Faculty of Medicine, Ufuk University in Ankara. She is still working at the same faculty.

Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner had two children. Prof. Dr. Acar Tüzüner is a faculty member at Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery. His other child, Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Tüzüner, is a faculty member at Ankara University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

I would like to thank my esteemed professional elder and teacher Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner, who worked non-stop for 50 years as a faculty member and for 20 years since the establishment of the Turkish Surgical Society, trained hundreds of medical doctors and general surgeons and added them to the health army, and left us with countless beautiful memories and artifacts. I bow respectfully before the cherished memory of Prof. Dr. Altan Tüzüner.

Prof. Dr. Semih Baskan
Turkish Surgical Society
Chairman of the Board of Directors between
2006-2008

References

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  2. Baskan S. Bir Ulu Çınarın Gövdesinden Yetişenler. s:86. 2004. Ankara.
  3. Baskan S. Ankara Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Genel Cerrahi Anabilim Dalı Tarihçesi. Turk J Surg 2006;22(1):37-47. https://doi. org/10.21307/immunohematology-2019-344
  4. Kuzu A. Cerrahi Sanatına El Verenler. s:66. 2022. Ankara.
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  7. Baskan S. ve ark. Türk Cerrahi Derneği Tarihçesi. s:64. 2010. Ankara.
  8. Baskan S. ve ark. Türk Cerrahi Derneği Tarihçesi. s:65. 2010. Ankara
  9. Baskan S. ve ark. Türk Cerrahi Derneği ve Kongreleri. Ulusal Cerrahi Kongreleri s:263-393, Deneysel Cerrahi Kongreleri s:453-455, Bölgesel Cerrahi Kongreleri s:486-490. 2010. Ankara.
  10. Ulusal Vasküler-Endovasküler Cerrahi Derneği Web Sayfası. Geçmiş Yönetim Kurulları. 2023.
  11. Baskan S. ve ark. Türk Cerrahi Derneği Tarihçesi. s:109. 2010. Ankara.
  12. Baskan S. ve ark. Türk Cerrahi Derneği Tarihçesi. s:110. 2010. Ankara.