Opposition raises tension in Parliament to suspend reform package

According to most observers, the main reason behind the increasing tension among deputies is an attempt by opposition parties to prevent Parliament from keeping up with its schedule to pass a reform package the AK Party government believes is crucial for the amendment of the Constitution.

The government announced plans last month to press ahead with a 22-article constitutional reform package to be in force until a new Constitution is drafted. Tension in Parliament has steadily increased since then, with some deputies refusing to attend parliamentary sessions. On Tuesday Osman Durmuş -- a deputy from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) -- drew the indignation of AK Party deputies when he made fun of news reports over GATA's refusal to allow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife to enter the hospital and visit thespian Nejat Uygur in 2007 because she wears a headscarf. Emine Erdoğan was hoping to pay a get-well visit to Uygur but was told that she would not be allowed to enter the hospital with her headscarf on.

A controversial headscarf ban is in place in the public sphere in Turkey that applies to university students as well as those working in the public sector. Women with headscarves are not allowed to enter military facilities, including hospitals and recreation areas belonging to the armed forces.

The MHP’s Durmuş angered AK Party deputies when he said: “How dare you not allow the wife of a prime minister, who is accepted as a prophet, to enter GATA? Who do you think you are?” AK Party deputy group chairman Bekir Bozdağ said it was tactlessness to call the prime minister a “prophet.”

Erdoğan was dubbed a “prophet” in November by the AK Party provincial chairman in Aydın, İsmail Hakkı Eser, who said, “We are so loyal to our prime minister and AK Party leader Erdoğan that he is a second prophet for us.”

Erdoğan also lashed out at the MHP deputy and said no one should refer to him this way. “This is unconscionable and immoral. You seek to both garner votes over covered women and defend those who do not allow my wife to enter GATA with her headscarf,” he said.

As the prime minister kept talking, some MHP deputies exchanged punches with the AK Party’s Orhan Erdem. Ali Koyuncu, an AK Party deputy, collapsed during the fight and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Angered by the fistfight, Erdoğan left Parliament.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli was seen sitting during the fight and refused to ask his deputies to stop fighting. Some observers who asked not to be named said opposition parties are decisive in preventing Parliament from working on the constitutional package and the Kurdish initiative until the approaching parliamentary elections. Turkey is slated for elections in 2011.

Opposition parties are well aware that the AK Party will most probably garner the majority of the national vote if it manages to replace the current Constitution with a civilian one and settle the decades-old Kurdish question. The AK Party has long been working to draft a new constitution to replace the present document, which was put into force after the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup. It has also been struggling to solve the Kurdish problem through peaceful methods.

The two issues -- the Constitution and the Kurdish question -- stand as two of Turkey’s major problems.

Tension between Arınç, Mumcu

Tuesday’s parliamentary session was also the scene of tension between Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and Deputy Parliament Speaker Güldal Mumcu. The deputy prime minister reacted against Mumcu when the latter allowed a Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy to deliver a speech that exceeded the time limit. Addressing the deputy parliament speaker, Arınç said: “Please be fair [toward all deputies] when presiding over a parliamentary session. You are acting unfairly.”

Mumcu, in response, accused Arınç of rushing into her office before the session and attempting to give her directions, and said, “I strongly condemn your attempt.” Mumcu was fervently applauded by MHP deputies.

Arınç held a press conference on Wednesday and accused Mumcu of increasing tension in Parliament. “She is responsible for the incidents in Parliament. Fistfights between deputies were also seen in the past when Mumcu presided over sessions. She acts like a typical CHP member. If you examine the minutes of parliamentary sessions she presided over in the past, you’ll see what I mean,” he said.

Arınç also accused Mumcu of remaining silent when MHP deputies insulted the AK Party deputies.

Mumcu, a CHP deputy from İzmir, is the widow of journalist Uğur Mumcu, who was killed by a bomb planted under his automobile on Jan. 24, 1993. His murderer has yet to be captured.