Turkish ruling party deputies get outraged by use of the term 'Kurdish cities' in parliament

Duvar English 

A brawl erupted in parliament after a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy used the term "Kurdish provinces" during budget talks, prompting outrage among ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lawmakers. 

HDP deputy Tülay Hatimoğulları was speaking about the lack of support given by the government to women's cooperatives and entrepreneurs when she used the term "Kurdish provinces." 

"How many cooperatives are being supported in Kurdish provinces? How many of those are women's?" Hatimoğulları asked on Nov. 23, triggering AKP deputies to call on the chairman of the budget talks to intervene. 

"We don't have any Turkish provinces and we don't have any provinces that we name based on ethnicity. We have 81 provinces where all of us, Kurds, Turks and Circassian, live together. Such a statement is not appropriate Ms. Hatimoğulları," commission head and AKP deputy Cevdet Yılmaz said, which was followed by AKP deputy İbrahim Aydemir yelling. 

"This is an insult to the Kurds! You are insulting the Kurds! You are the enemy of the Kurds," Aydemir said, while another AKP deputy, Uğur Aydemir, asked what "Kurdish provinces" means. 

"Retract your statement!" Aydemir told Hatimoğulları. 

"I know what I said. You'll get used to it," Hatimoğulları responded. 

The brawl then took an interesting turn, when Aydemir accused Hatimoğulları of being a "Marxist." 

"You are trying to divide the country! You are a Marxist, Leninist and an enemy of the Turks!" Aydemir said, to which the HDP lawmaker responded by calling the AKP MP "an enemy of the people, workers and women." 

MHP deputy Mustafa Baki Ersoy then got involved in the brawl, surprisingly claiming that Hatimoğulları is not a member of the commission. 

"You can't divide this country!" he yelled. 

While the argument was continuing, AKP deputy Uğur Aydemir added an interesting twist to the brawl. 

"Mr. President, this deputy is not even a Kurd. If she was Kurdish, maybe that would be OK," he said, prompting Hatimoğulları to say that she is an Arab.

"I'm an Arab! It's none of your business!" she said. 

"You are not even a human!" MHP deputy Tamer Osmanağaoğlu said. 

While HDP lawmaker Ali Kenanoğlu accused the government bloc of engaging in Kurdish enmity, another HDP deputy, Necdet İpekyüz, said, "I'm going to be a Kurd now." 

The session then went into a break since the argument lasted for too long.