MP spills soul in poem to minister

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Önder reads a small, rhyming poem he wrote for the minister. AA photo

Weary of constantly having to criticize Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin, a leader Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy has instead penned a sarcastic poem in praise of the much-maligned official while calling on him to remain minister “in perpetuity.”

“We apologize for the very wrongful accusations we have directed at the esteemed interior minister,” Sırrı Sürreyya Önder told Parliament on Nov. 20 during deliberations on a censure motion against Şahin.
Önder then read a small, rhyming poem he wrote for the minister.

“I sacrifice myself to your thick eyebrows,
Your head is fit for a crown,
If I don’t see you for one day, İdris Naim,
I burn for you.”

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had opened a censure motion against Şahin, saying he had “obstructed the freedom to meet and demonstrate and the freedom to travel during Oct. 29 Republic Day.” Over 50,000 people gathered in Ankara’s Ulus Square in front of the former Parliament building on Oct. 29 to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of the republic despite a ban from the Ankara governor. Police used pepper gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd as they marched toward Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The motion failed against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), but not before Önder completed his sarcastic praise of Şahin.