Speaker and opposition leader row in Parliament
PROCEEDINGS in Parliament had to be suspended for 10 minutes on Monday after a heated argument broke out between Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre, of the National Unity Party (UBP), and main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman.
UBP MP Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu, who was chairing the session in Parliament, ordered the break in a debate on the “management of Parliament and the practices of Mr Töre” as tensions spilled over.
Mr Töre had taken to the floor to respond to criticism from Dr Erhürman regarding the Foreign Ministry’s response to statements made last month by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola during a speech to the South Cyprus Parliament regarding the Eastern Mediterranean and Maraş.
He began to argue with Dr Erhürman and other CTP MPs, saying they “do not have the grace to listen” to him, to which Dr Erhürman replied: “Say something worth listening to and we will.” Mr Töre fired back “you cannot rule Parliament by yelling, learn to listen, be respectful”.
He then announced that statues in the Parliament garden of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and late Turkish Cypriot leader Dr Fazıl Küçük would be restored, and that a statue of the TRNC’s founding President Rauf Denktaş would be built.
The arguing escalated when criticisms regarding the statues arose about “spending on concrete”, to which Mr Töre said that the statues “are not made of concrete” and that the costs will be met by the Turkish government’s Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency “as a gift”.
The arguing continued, at which point Mr Hasipoğlu called for a break.
When the session reconvened, Dr Erhürman accused Mr Töre of trying to portray the CTP as a party “against Atatürk, Dr Küçük and Denktaş”.
He recalled that Atatürk was the person who established a parliamentary system in Turkey, and who “took authority from Parliament when he was going to the front and who gave an account when he returned”.
He added: “You cannot make decisions about Parliament according to your own mind. . . When you do this you disregard not only us but also the UBP members.”