CHP urges AKP deputy to quit for Parliament brawl

Turkey’s main opposition has urged Parliament’s administrative chief, Salim Uslu, to resign over his physical assault on a CHP deputy at the General Assembly’s rostrum last week.

Uslu, a deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), “must not stay at a post that requires impartiality after having become a bodyguard for his party. His resignation has become compulsory to protect Parliament’s reputation and the respect for national will. It would be shameful if he stay on his post,” Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy chairman Erdoğan Toprak said yesterday in a written statement.

AKP’s Uslu unleashed a wave of criticism on Nov. 10 when he forcefully pushed Kamer Genç from the rostrum after the CHP deputy refused to heed warnings from the Parliament speaker to end a speech that was “off topic.”

Genç was criticizing the government for covering up corruption. He narrowly avoided falling to the ground by clutching a table behind him.

The CHP demanded an apology from Uslu, as well as an official reprimand. The AKP, however, voted against the motion and Uslu has refused to apologize. “If Uslu does not resign and the AKP does not openly condemn his assault, it would mean that this is how the AKP will behave in Parliament during the new [legislative] term,” Toprak said yesterday.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek was scheduled to hold a meeting with the parties’ deputy group chairs late in the afternoon to discuss parliamentary rules of conduct following Uslu’s assault on Genç and issues concerning the constitution-making process.