Harsh words and punches were exchanged in Parliament last Tuesday by MHP and AK Party deputies over the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine’s (GATA) refusal to allow the prime minister’s wife to enter its facilities in 2007 because she wears a headscarf. Osman Durmuş -- a deputy from the MHP -- drew the indignation of AK Party deputies when he made fun of news reports over GATA’s refusal to allow Prime Minister Erdoğan’s wife to enter the hospital to call on thespian Nejat Uygur in 2007.
Speaking on Saturday at the inauguration of facilities constructed by Tosyalı Holding in the southern province of Osmaniye, a stronghold of the MHP, Erdoğan said the MHP was preventing Parliament from working, increasing tension and equating this with opposition.
“Those who have failed to prevent us from serving the nation are trying to drag us to their dead wells. They think it is opposition to terrorize Parliament, increase tension there and keep it from working. They have resorted to all kinds of provocation, insults and reckless moves to slow down the work of Parliament since the March 29 local elections. Laws are enacted there for the nation; do not they know this?” asked Erdoğan.
He also noted that there was no explanation for the MHP making family privacy and religious values a subject of political polemics. “Does such an attitude exist in our traditions? How can making politicians’ wives, women and the holy values of this nation a subject of polemics and abusing them be explained?” asked Erdoğan. Responding to Erdoğan, the MHP denied triggering tension in Parliament while arguing that it was actually the AK Party that fomented the tension.
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli who spoke in Samsun on Saturday, said: “It was the AK Party deputies that triggered the fight in Parliament. Erdoğan could have intervened … and prevented them from becoming involved in the fight. He could have asked them, ‘Where are you going, friends?’ Let alone saying this, he left Parliament several minutes after the outbreak of the fight.”
MHP Secretary-General Cihan Paçacı accused Erdoğan of failing to show the maturity and tolerance his position requires of him. He said it was actually Erdoğan that was increasing the tension in the country due to his fiery attitude.
