bne IntelliNews – Staff members have to remove blood stains from the floor of the Turkish parliament after dozens of MPs were involved in a brawl
After a 30-minute brawl involving dozens of MPs, staff had to wipe bloodstains from the floor of the Turkish parliament.
Fist fights in the plenary are nothing unusual in the Turkish legislature, but – as one bne IntelliNews At the end of July, a report was published about an attack by a former transport minister on an opposition MP. There have been some particularly ugly incidents recently.
The most recent physical confrontation, in which at least two MPs suffered head injuries, occurred on August 16, when parliamentarians argued over the imprisoned opposition MP Can Atalay (48). Atalay had won his seat during the election campaign from prison, but his parliamentary immunity was revoked in January.
Alpay Ozalan, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), attacked Ahmet Sik, who, like Atalay, is a member of the small left-wing Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP).
“It is no surprise that you call Atalay a terrorist,” Sik said, as reported Reuters“All citizens should know that the biggest terrorists in this country are those who sit on these benches (the ruling majority).”
Ozalan, a former football player, responded to the remark by stepping onto the podium and pushing Sik to the ground, a AFP Journalist reported in Parliament.
As Sik lay on the ground, he was repeatedly beaten by AKP MPs. Dozens of MPs joined the fight.
A member of the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), and a member of the Party for Equality and Democracy of Peoples (DEM) suffered head injuries.
Atalay is one of seven defendants sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2022 at the end of a controversial trial that sentenced award-winning philanthropist Osman Kavala to life imprisonment.
Parliament’s decision to expel Atalay in January was followed by a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeals upholding his conviction. But on August 1, the Constitutional Court declared Atalay’s expulsion from parliament “null and void.” MPs from the AKP and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) joined forces to defeat an opposition motion that followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
