A scuffle erupted in Turkey’s parliament on Friday as MPs debated the fate of a detained opposition activist who was controversially stripped of parliamentary immunity earlier this year.
The legislators met after the country’s constitutional court overturned parliament’s decision to remove Can Atalay from his parliamentary seat earlier this month.
Lawyer and Rights Atalay won his seat last year, campaigning from his prison cell.
On Friday, Ahmet Sik, a fellow member of the Marxist Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP), defended Atalay against criticisms from ruling party lawmakers.
“It’s no surprise that you call Atalay a terrorist,” he said.
“All citizens should know that the biggest terrorists of this country are those seated on those benches,” he added, indicating the ruling majority.
That comment drew angry responses from ruling party lawmakers, prompting the chairman to call a break.
Scuffles broke out after former footballer Alpay Ozalan, a lawmaker from Erdogan’s ruling AKP party, walked to the rostrum and shoved Sik to the ground, said an AFP journalist in parliament.
Sik was then punched on the ground several times by ruling party lawmakers.