Opposition MP spends night in intensive care after injured in brawl in parliament

A quarrel between MPs led to a brawl at the parliament late yesterday (December 6), which left a deputy critically injured.

Hüseyin Örs, an İYİ (Good) Party MP, was taken to intensive care after he was hit by Zafer Işık of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The MP has cardiac dysrhythmia, and electrical cardioversion was applied to bring his heart back to a normal rhythm, his fellow party members said. He was taken out of intensive care at around 12.30 p.m., Kürşat Zorlu said on Twitter.

Zorlu tweeted this photo after Örs was discharged from intensive care.

The incident occurred when the parliament was discussing the Youth and Sports Ministry's 2023 draft budget on the second day of the budget talks.

After the deputy speaker announced İYİ Party MP Ümit Beyaz as the last member of the party to give a speech, he had a quarrel with AKP deputies, according to the parliamentary minutes.

"You are talking nonsense to everyone," he told AKP deputy Yaşar Kırkpınar, who replied, "Concentrate on your speech."

"Don't talk," Beyaz told him in return.

The quarrel grew after other deputies joined and eventually turned into a brawl. Deputy Speaker Haydar Akar suspended the session for 10 minutes. However, the brawl continued and Işık hit and injured Örs in the head. He was taken to the hospital.

Following the medical intervention at the hospital, Aylin Cesur of İYİ Party told reporters, "He was given medicine [in the parliament]. Coming to the hospital we called the authorities and wanted the cardiology and emergency physicians to be present on our arrival. The intervention was returning the heart rhythm. Life threat still exists."

Cesur also said that Örs was kept in intensive care and put to sleep.

Reactions

AKP MP Işık was expelled from the session with the consensus of all political parties represented and then punished with a prohibition from attending parliament for two sessions by majority vote.

İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener, as well as other leaders and deputies, condemned the AKP deputy and called on the speaker to take further action against Işık.

The party will not attend further sessions if the AKP does not "give a satisfying decision" regarding Işık, its parliamentary group deputy chair, Müsavat Dervişoğlu, told a press conference at the parliament today.

"There is a party that never changes in cases of violence in the parliament, it's the AK Party," he said.

"Had it not been for the immediate and appropriate intervention of the İYİ Party deputies, perhaps the attacker would have completed his offensive action and we would have lost Hüseyin Örs," he remarked. (VK/PE)