The Turkish parliament experienced a tense day last night when an exchange of accusations and insults between deputies from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) during the debate to approve the central government’s budget for 2026 led to a physical fight between deputies from both parties, who punched and shoved their political rivals.
The budget plan for next year was passed in plenary with 320 votes in favour and 249 against thanks to the support of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan‘s AKP party and its allies, after a constant exchange of accusations between AKP and CHP deputies. The atmosphere quickly deteriorated when an initial exchange of verbal reproaches and insults between the two groups gave way to a physical confrontation with blows.
According to Turkish media reports, the trigger for the dispute was an intervention by AKP deputy for Bursa and former technology minister Mustafa Varank, who lashed out at the main opposition party and its leader, Özgür Özel, during the budget debate. “Bring your secretary general, he should not be afraid of me. Luckily, our people know Mr Özgür’s record very well. Farmers living in towns governed by CHP municipalities are still waiting for the free tractors that Özgür Özel promised… Apparently, he could not find a budget for those free tractors,” Varank said, addressing the opposition benches.
“It turns out he was busy thinking about drinking rakı at the memorial service (for the late MP Kamer Genç) by the grave. The images offered by Özgür Özel and his friends were shameful, not only for them; believe me, the whole of Turkey felt ashamed. You may not be ashamed of the living, but do you have no respect for the dead?” the former minister asked the main opposition party, referring to a controversial video of Özel recently released showing him drinking and pouring alcohol on the grave of a former CHP deputy, whose family has announced legal action against the opposition leader.
“Evren is in hell, as you will be. Atatürk scares you”
The response to these words came from Gökhan Günaydın, MP for Istanbul and one of the heads of the CHP parliamentary group: “Kenan Evren (the general who staged the 1980 coup) is with the demons, and you will be too. You are the grandchildren of Fesli Kadir“, he said alluding to the nickname of Kadir Mısıroğlu, a well-known and controversial Turkish radical Islamist – deceased in 2019 – who opposed Atatürk‘s reforms and advocated the restoration of the caliphate.
“You are enemies of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk… The spirit of Atatürk frightens you and will continue to frighten you… Is there not a single brave man among you?” insisted Günaydın, sparking protests from Erdoğan’s party MPs and an immediate counter-reply from AKP deputy for Sivas province, Abdullah Güler.
Tension mounted in the chamber as MPs from both parties began insulting each other, pushing and shoving, and eventually ended up in a fist fight in the middle of the chamber. Several MPs joined in the altercation, while security personnel and other MPs tried to calm the situation and separate those involved in the fight.
The brawl in the Turkish parliament lasted for 10 minutes, forcing the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), Numan Kurtulmuş, to suspend the session, but the clashes continued even after the recess was declared. Ironically, CHP president Özgür Özel, who was present in the chamber during the brawl, had hours earlier shaken hands with several AKP deputies at the start of the budget debate, in a conciliatory gesture that preceded a session that ended in chaos and – why not say it – an embarrassment for Turkish politics.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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