Argument breaks out at Parliament when CHP deputy slams idea of Syrian massacre as lies

ANKARA – Anatolia News Agency/Hürriyet

Ümit Özgümüş from CHP (L) and Mehmet Metiner from the ruling AKP nearly came to fist on today's parliamentary session. AA photo

A fiery scuffle broke out in Parliament today when a Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy stated that claims the Syrian regime was massacring its own people was a lie, just as claims there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is a lie.  
 
During a relatively unheated session on the new Electricity Market law, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Ümit Özgümüş took the floor to argue that Foreign Minister Davutoğlu had made a misjudgment on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fate, adding that the Damascus regime will stay in power for at least two more years. “The claim that the Syrian regime was massacring its own people is a lie just as the [claim] there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq [is a lie],” Özgömüş said, adding that the Syrian people were ganging up against imperialism.
 
Following Özgömüş’s remarks, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Mehmet Metiner rushed from the AKP’s seats shouting that Özgümüş “had no right to support those who were massacring their people.” 
 
Özgümüş responded to Metiner’s interruption by telling the AKP deputy to “stop yapping.”
 
Özgümüş then invited Metiner to come to the pulpit where both men nearly came to fists despite repeated calls for restraint by Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Meral Akşener, who was chairing the session.
 
Metiner called Özgümüş “a slaughterer” and “a buffoon,” leading Özgümüş to yell “I will kill you, you moron.”
 
After much difficulty the two deputies were separated by colleagues from both parties and the session was delayed for an hour.