Fists speak louder than words in Parliament

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The ruling AKP deputy Mustafa Akış trades punches with other deputies. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Opposing deputies traded punches late July 1 following round-the-clock work in Parliament to pass a new judicial reform package.

Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Mustafa Akış, in the presence of a number of colleagues, punched Hasip Kaplan of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) after the latter pulled a motion about the reform to abolish specially authorized courts from the hands of deputy Mine Beyaz Lök as she was reading it out to the plenary session. Kaplan’s colleagues from the BDP entered the fray as Kaplan knocked Akış to the floor with a kick. Addressing the general assembly following the incident, the BDP’s Sırrı Sakık blamed the other parties’ deputy parliamentary group chairs for remaining silent about the attack on Kaplan. “A person may make a mistake; however, he cannot be lynched. You are trying to lynch us by relying on your numerical majority,” Sakık said. The Parliament also witnessed a sarcastic protest by Süleyman Çelebi of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Addressing the General Assembly early yesterday morning, Çelebi took the rostrum, announcing that he would outline the “advanced democratic practices during the AKP era.” The deputy then proceeded to remain silent for five minutes before leaving the platform.