HDP MP infuriated after parliament speaker refuses to listen to him

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Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was infuriated after Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop refused to listen to him during budget talks in parliament on Oct. 27.

"You can't listen to me for two minutes but you know how to put me in prison!" Gergerlioğlu told the parliament speaker. 

Police on April 2 detained Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who was stripped of his parliamentary status in March, and took him to prison from his home for sharing a news article about the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Twitter in 2016. He was found guilty in February 2018 of “spreading terror propaganda” on the basis of the social media post.

Asking Şentop to apologize to him for his wrongful imprisonment, Gergerlioğlu said that the parliament speaker "listened to the orders" of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) alliance.

"Shame on you! What kind of parliament speaker is this?" Gergerlioğlu said. 

Asking the chairman to listen to him, Gergerlioğlu was met with the answer of "Who are you for me to listen to. Come speak to me personally if you have a personal issue." Parliament speaker was slamming his fist down on his desk when responding. 

Budget Committee Chair Cevdet Yılmaz called for a break in the middle of the brawl when Şentop decided to leave the room only to come back immediately and respond to Gergerlioğlu's remarks on being detained by police while performing ablution for his morning prayer.

"You can't pray after the sun comes up, and that time is known to everyone. You're telling lies, lies. You may not know, but people who actually pray know this: You can't pray 45 minutes after sun up," the chairman said. 

Meanwhile, members of the ruling AKP-MHP alliance accused Gergerlioğlu of "putting on a show" since he was eventually released from prison.