VIDEO: Another fight breaks out at tense Turkish parliament

ANKARA

A fierce brawl erupted during a constitutional commission meeting that was discussing legislation on lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution on April 28, leaving five deputies wounded. 

The fight came after fisticuffs during General Assembly meetings on both April 27 and April 28. 




The commission’s activities were postponed until May 2 after tension boiled over between deputies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). 

AKP deputies Yusuf Başer, Mehmet Demir and Ali İhsan Yavuz, and HDP deputies Feleknas Uca and Erdal Ataş were all taken to hospital after the fight. 

The brawl erupted after HDP MPs, including Ankara deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder, requested to move to a larger room during the second part of the meeting because a number of HDP and AKP deputies could not find a seat. 

Tension rose further when several AKP MPs asked TV camera operators to leave the room, against the wishes of HDP deputies who wanted them to follow the meeting until it ended.