Parliament speaker condemns attack on lawmaker

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s parliament speaker Mustafa Şentop has condemned the physical attack on Barış Atay, a lawmaker from the southeastern province of Hatay and opposition Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) Vice-Chair.

Şentop told the state-run Anadolu Agency that he spoke with the related officials about the incident and obtained information about it.

“A physical attack on a lawmaker is unacceptable. I condemn it. What is necessary is being done to inquire about the incident in its all aspects and to identify and investigate the perpetrators,” said Şentop.

Atay was attacked in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district on Aug. 31 by unidentified assailants following the Twitter posts with Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu criticizing each other over a “sexual assault” case. 

He also filed a criminal complaint at the prosecutor’s office regarding the attack. 

“The perpetrator of this incident is Soylu,” Atay said in his testimony, emphasizing that the minister had “made him a target” the day before on Twitter.

Atay also said in his testimony that a group of three or four people had thrown punches at him from behind, causing him to fall on the ground.

‘Rape allegations’

After Musa Orhan, a specialist sergeant who was released from prison despite being tried for alleged sexual assault of an 18-year-old woman and driving her to suicide in the eastern province of Batman, Atay had shared a post with a screenshot on Twitter about the alleged text messages of 
Orhan, tagging Soylu.

“You protected and backed a serial rapist. We will make efforts to ensure that it will be held against you for the rest of your life and you will not ever forget it,” Atay had said.

“The left-over of the PKK and DHKP-C [terrorist organizations], who became a lawmaker from the HDP [Peoples’ Democratic Party] upon the instruction of the PKK heads,” Soylu tweeted in response to this message, addressing to Atay.

“I cannot be a ‘rapist protector,’ but you would make quite a rapist, the protector of Tuma,” Soylu said, referring to Tuma Çelik, a lawmaker from HDP whose parliamentary immunity was lifted for the rape of a woman.

“Watch out, don’t get caught...,” Soylu added.

Meanwhile, Orhan was expelled from the Gendarmerie Command with the decision of the High Disciplinary Board on Aug. 31, according to a statement by the Ministry of Interior.