Near daily new dead and wounded have been reported after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed on Feb. 27 in an airstrike blamed by Ankara on Syria โ but widely believed to have been carried out by Russia.
Underscoring the mounting domestic anger and divide over Erdogan's getting the Turkish Army more deeply bogged down in northwest Syria โ after he days ago declared a large military offensive against pro-Assad forces โ a large brawl erupted in parliament Wednesday after an MP lashed out at President Erdogan over his reckless Syria policy.
"Video footage of the fist fight was captured and released to the public by several channels after the closed parliamentary session," Mideast news site Al Masdar reported of the dramatic footage which captured the fight.
Journalist Ali Ornek reports the fist fight was triggered over scathing comments from People's Republican MP Engin รzkoรง offered toward Erdogan.
"Are you looking for Satan? You are the Satan cutting deals with the U.S. (for Idlib) You sent our soldiers to die for this," the opposition MP said.
Blaming Erdogan for the needless deaths of dozens of troops was enough to unleash chaos among the assembled politicians, and fists flew in the legislature which has actually witnessed multiple physical altercations in past years.
The Associated Press reports the following further details:
Erdogan had actually addressed the assembly Wednesday, which included statements on the developing refugee crisis, after he said Turkey has effectively 'opened the gates'.Fighting is a frequent occurrence in Turkey's parliament. The clash on Wednesday started when Engin Ozkoc of the opposition Republican People's Party took the rostrum. During a news conference shortly before, Ozkoc called Erdogan "dishonorable, ignoble, low and treacherous."
He also accused the president of sending the children of Turkey's people to fight while Erdogan's own offspring allegedly avoided long-term military service.
Opposition parties have vehemently opposed military intervention in Idlib while calling for peace talks with Damascus. It's proving increasingly costly for Turkey, also as multiple of its drones have been shot down over Idlib in the past few days alone.
How many leaders and people clinging to power can this be applied to?
All kidding aside, it would be nice if our politicians took their jobs this seriously for a change. C-Span ratings would improve...