Turkish deputy parliament speaker swears at pro-Kurdish MP at parliament

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Turkish far-right Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP) Deputy Parliament Speaker Celal Adan on Oct. 27 swore at the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP) deputy Sırrı Sakık at the Parliament without realizing the microphone was open.

In his speech at a general assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Sakık mentioned the massacres that the Kurds have experienced for 100 years in the country. He added that “We can build a new Republic together. We can open a brand new white page together,” referring to the centennial of the Republic, Oct. 29.

Sakık also said both Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the remark of “Kurdistan,” adding that Atatürk was saying “Kurdistan” while calling Kurdish deputies at the time. In response, Adan said there was no Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Atatürk's time, arguing that deputies “(who support the PKK) would not leave this Parliament alive when Mustafa Kemal established the state.”

Then, Sakık said “It is of no use to anyone to take what I said and identify it with the PKK.”

Thinking that the microphone was turned off, Adan said, “Pimps” (or “Assholes”) after Sakık spoke.

Later in the same day, HEDEP Group Deputy Chair Saruhan Oluç held a press conference and demanded Adan’s resignation.

“The words that Celal Adan used, which I would be ashamed to use, behind our speaker's back, targeting our group, are very harsh and shameful for the dignity of the parliament,” Oluç said and invited Adan to resign from his post as deputy parliament speaker, Mezopotamya News Agency reported.

In May, Adan demanded the closure of the Constitutional Court (AYM) for not closing the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the predecessor of the HEDEP.