Brawl Erupts in Parliament Over Opposition MP's Remarks on Erdoğan
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Dozens of deputies engaged in a fight in the parliament during a speech by Engin Özkoç, the parliamentary group chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP).
Deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) reportedly protested Özkoç after he took the floor, whom they accused of "insulting the president" over his earlier remarks in a press conference at the parliament.
After his press briefing, Özkoç tweeted that "A person who became the co-chair of the Greater Middle East Project, who approves the slaughter of three million Muslims, who calls martyrs 'heads' is undignified, dishonorable, honorless! This person cannot be the President of the Republic of Turkey!"
TCK Article 299: Insulting the President of the Republic(1) Any person who insults the President of the Republic shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of one to four years. (2) (Amended on 29/6/2005 – By Article 35 of the Law no. 5377) Where the offense is committed in public, the sentence to be imposed shall be increased by one sixth. (3) The initiation of a prosecution for such offence shall be subject to the permission of the Minister of Justice. |
He also attached a clip of the press conference where he made similar remarks.
President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has many times defined himself as "co-chair of the Greater Middle East Project" since 2000s.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation against Özkoç for "insulting the president" as per Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 299.
An attorney of the President, Hüseyin Aydın, said after he incident that they would initiate a legal process as of tomorrow (March 4).
"As he made this statement as the CHP spokesperson, these statements indicate that we are in a new phase of the CHP's smear campaign against our president and and in politics with insults.
"Until now, there has been no statements from the CHP. I especially want to underline that." (PT/VK)