CHP discharges Ankara deputy Aylin Nazlıaka over inter-party Atatürk portrait spat

Ankara deputy Aylin Nazlıaka from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has been discharged from party on Friday over her previous remarks that a CHP deputy had taken down a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey.

The party's disciplinary committee voted in favor of discharged Nazlıaka after the deputy pleaded for two and a half hours.

The decision was made in the wake of Nazlıaka's previous remarks that a CHP deputy had taken down a portrait of Atatürk from the office wall in Parliament. A picture of Turkey's founder hanging in every deputies' office is a convention on the premises.

Nazlıaka exposed the incident during a meeting with 10 other CHP deputies. She told them that she witnessed the incident while she was in the office of the deputy. She allegedly asked the unnamed deputy why they had taken down the portrait, and got the answer: "It is now time to say new things."

After the news came out, the unnamed CHP deputy hung the portrait back on the wall, according to Nazlıaka.

The CHP never confirmed if the incident was true and never gave details, and Turkish media was informed of the incident by Nazlıaka.