ANKARA, Turley (A.W.)—Prior to the approval by a Turkish parliamentary committee of a bill stripping parliamentarians of their immunity, a physical fight broke out on May 2 between members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party. HDP’s Armenian Parliamentarian Garo Paylan was targeted in the attack, both physically and through hate speech. Paylan called the attack a premeditated “lynching” campaign in a press statement on May 3. This was the second fight in parliament in the past five days.
MP Garo Paylan at the HDP Parliamentary office in Ankara (Photo: Rupen Janbazian)
Members of parliament exchanged punches, kicks, and threw objects at each other on May 2, prompting HDP members to withdraw from the chamber.
“Today, news agencies spread information that it was I who ‘poured oil on the fire’ and ‘sparked’ [the fight]; [they are] depicting the HDP Parliamentarians as the cause of the physical violence, and [are] distorting the truth,” said Paylan in the statement.
“As is evident in the video, Istanbul AKP member Mehmet Metiner attacked me, after which a fistfight broke out and the premeditated lynching commenced,” Paylan said.
Paylan also said that he thought the attack on HDP members was planned in advance, and the fact that he is an ethnic Armenian made him a target. He said in the press statement following the fight, “the fascists are scared, and will attack insidiously only in groups.”
