Turkey's parliament descended into a rare, violent brawl on Friday - all caught on camera - and which literally resulted in blood on the ground and at least two lawmakers injured.
The fracas lasted for a stunning 30-minutes, and it all started during a speech from opposition leftist MP Ahmet Sik of the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP). Sik had been lambasting Erdogan's ruling AK party and its lawmakers, defending a 'controversial' figure Can Atalay - who ran for a parliament seat from jail in 2023 and won after being sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2022 under Erdogan's government.
Atalay was subsequently stripped of his mandate by AKP authorities, but the Workers' Party of Turkey moved to reverse this ban from parliament and restore his elected mandate on Friday. This infuriated AKP politicians.
Things erupted in turmoil when MP Sik called AKP lawmakers "the biggest terrorists of this country."
That's when an enraged Alpay Ozalan of the AKP suddenly approached the podium and slapped and the opposition representative, who fell to the ground. From there all hell broke lose and at one point even women were being punched.
Politico detailed of the massive fight, which should prove a national embarrassment and certainly won't do anything to help improve Turkey's years-long efforts to join the European Union:
At that point, AKP member Alpay Özalan launched into Şık and shoved him to the ground. Other AKP lawmakers joined in to punch him while he was on the floor.
The attack quickly turned into a full-fledged brawl that lasted 30 minutes and led to the suspension of the hearing. When the session eventually resumed three hours later, MPs voted to uphold Atalay’s suspension.
The parliament also reprimanded Şık for his statements against the AKP and Özalan for the assault that kicked off the fight.
Watch how the fight started below:
A fistfight broke out in Turkey's parliament when an opposition deputy was attacked after calling for his colleague, jailed on charges of organising anti-government protests but since elected an MP, to be admitted to the assembly | Read more: https://t.co/UTaDHtv2vG pic.twitter.com/9tzgfy6g3E
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 16, 2024
Leader of the main opposition party CHP Özgür Özel later issued a statement saying the whole spectacle was shamful.
"Lawmakers punched other lawmakers, even women. This is unacceptable," he said according to Reuters. In the aftermath spots and streaks of blood had to be wiped off white marble steps in front of the speaker's podium.
The jailed official at the center of the controversy, Atalay, is a "lawyer, rights activist and one of the Gezi Seven accused of trying to overthrow the government by orchestrating nationwide protests in 2013. He was sentenced to 18 years in jail in 2022," Politico details.
A fistfight broke out in Turkey's parliament when an opposition deputy was attacked after calling for his colleague, jailed on charges of organizing anti-government protests but since elected an MP, to be admitted to the assembly https://t.co/M4NyyclfD2 pic.twitter.com/oCrNamNwCq
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 16, 2024
Brawls in Turkish parliament have been known to happen from time to time, but have become more rare. A much smaller scuffle happened in June, related to the jailing of a pro-Kurdish mayor. The Kurdish issue is especially a hot-button topic anytime it arises in Turkish parliament.
Turkey’s parliament descended into a rare, violent brawl on Friday – all caught on camera – and which literally resulted in blood on the ground and at least two lawmakers injured.
The fracas lasted for a stunning 30-minutes, and it all started during a speech from opposition leftist MP Ahmet Sik of the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP). Sik had been lambasting Erdogan’s ruling AK party and its lawmakers, defending a ‘controversial’ figure Can Atalay – who ran for a parliament seat from jail in 2023 and won after being sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2022 under Erdogan’s government.
Atalay was subsequently stripped of his mandate by AKP authorities, but the Workers’ Party of Turkey moved to reverse this ban from parliament and restore his elected mandate on Friday. This infuriated AKP politicians.
Things erupted in turmoil when MP Sik called AKP lawmakers “the biggest terrorists of this country.”
That’s when an enraged Alpay Ozalan of the AKP suddenly approached the podium and slapped and the opposition representative, who fell to the ground. From there all hell broke lose and at one point even women were being punched.
Politico detailed of the massive fight, which should prove a national embarrassment and certainly won’t do anything to help improve Turkey’s years-long efforts to join the European Union:
At that point, AKP member Alpay Özalan launched into Şık and shoved him to the ground. Other AKP lawmakers joined in to punch him while he was on the floor.
The attack quickly turned into a full-fledged brawl that lasted 30 minutes and led to the suspension of the hearing. When the session eventually resumed three hours later, MPs voted to uphold Atalay’s suspension.
The parliament also reprimanded Şık for his statements against the AKP and Özalan for the assault that kicked off the fight.
Watch how the fight started below:
A fistfight broke out in Turkey’s parliament when an opposition deputy was attacked after calling for his colleague, jailed on charges of organising anti-government protests but since elected an MP, to be admitted to the assembly | Read more: https://t.co/UTaDHtv2vG pic.twitter.com/9tzgfy6g3E
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 16, 2024
Leader of the main opposition party CHP Özgür Özel later issued a statement saying the whole spectacle was shamful.
“Lawmakers punched other lawmakers, even women. This is unacceptable,” he said according to Reuters. In the aftermath spots and streaks of blood had to be wiped off white marble steps in front of the speaker’s podium.
The jailed official at the center of the controversy, Atalay, is a “lawyer, rights activist and one of the Gezi Seven accused of trying to overthrow the government by orchestrating nationwide protests in 2013. He was sentenced to 18 years in jail in 2022,” Politico details.
A fistfight broke out in Turkey’s parliament when an opposition deputy was attacked after calling for his colleague, jailed on charges of organizing anti-government protests but since elected an MP, to be admitted to the assembly https://t.co/M4NyyclfD2 pic.twitter.com/oCrNamNwCq
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 16, 2024
Brawls in Turkish parliament have been known to happen from time to time, but have become more rare. A much smaller scuffle happened in June, related to the jailing of a pro-Kurdish mayor. The Kurdish issue is especially a hot-button topic anytime it arises in Turkish parliament.
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