ANKARA: Lawmakers from Turkiye’s ruling AK Party and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party brawled in parliament’s general assembly on Tuesday over the detention and replacement of a DEM Party mayor in southeast Turkiye.
On Monday, police detained Mehmet Siddik Akis, mayor of the southeastern Hakkari province bordering Iran and Iraq, just two months after he won power in local elections. Turkiye’s Interior Ministry said Akis played a high-level role within the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militia, while replacing him with the state governor.
After the 2019 municipal elections, Turkiye detained virtually all pro-Kurdish mayors over alleged PKK ties and replaced them with state officials. DEM has previously denied any association with the PKK.
Tensions flared in parliament when DEM lawmakers held signs and chanted slogans, occupying the speaking podium in the general assembly in protest of Akis’ detention and replacement.
“Shoulder to shoulder against fascism,” DEM lawmakers chanted, as legislators from President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party (AKP) chanted counter-slogans such as “Damn the PKK” while ripping up signs held by DEM lawmakers.
Footage showed the lawmakers arguing loudly and shoving each other. A punch led to one scuffle that caused some lawmakers to fall over, with others held back from joining in the fight.
It was not immediately clear who threw the punch.
The general assembly closed for the day after the incident.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party has also criticized the detention and replacement of Akis, calling it “disrespect” to the people of Hakkari.
In the March 31 local elections, DEM reaffirmed its regional strength, winning 10 provinces in Turkiye’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
Turkish authorities accuse DEM and its pro-Kurdish predecessors of ties to the PKK, which is designated a terrorist group by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Over 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK’s separatist insurgency against the Turkish state, launched in 1984.
Lawmakers brawl in Turkish parliament over pro-Kurdish mayor’s detention
https://arab.news/bbsnf
Lawmakers brawl in Turkish parliament over pro-Kurdish mayor’s detention
- ‘Shoulder to shoulder against fascism,’ DEM lawmakers chanted
- AKP Legislators chanted counter-slogans such as ‘Damn the PKK’
Jordanian forces destroy arms and drug trafficking workshops
- Criminal gangs used the sites along the northern border as bases for launching unlawful operations toward the heart of Jordanian territory
LONDON: The Jordanian military conducted a crackdown on several drug gangs involved in smuggling weapons and narcotics along the northern border with Syria.
The military announced on Wednesday that it targeted several factories and workshops used by gangs involved in arms and drug trafficking, which they used as bases for launching unlawful operations toward the heart of Jordanian territory.
Armed Forces destroyed the sites after receiving intelligence in coordination with regional partners, according to the Petra news agency.
Syrian state media broadcaster Al-Ikhbariya reported on Telegram that the Jordanian army targeted “drug smuggling networks and storage farms in the southern and eastern countryside” of Sweida, in southern Syria.
The Jordanian Army is prepared to confront anyone threatening the security of the homeland and its citizens, addressing any threats with force as needed, The Petra added.
