President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday criticized the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), whose lawmakers tried to derail the oath-taking ceremony of the newly appointed justice minister on Wednesday.
He said the CHP continues to cling to its past fascism and resort to banditry, referring to lawmakers engaging in fisticuffs.
Akın Gürlek, who succeeded Yılmaz Tunç as justice minister, arrived at Parliament on Wednesday to be formally sworn in, but CHP lawmakers suddenly leapt to the pulpit where he would recite the oath, effectively stopping him. Lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rushed to Gürlek's side, and a brawl erupted between Mahmut Tanal of the CHP and Osman Gökçek of the AK Party. Other lawmakers traded blows, too, while AK Party deputies surrounded Gürlek, shielding him from CHP members hurling objects at him.
Gökçek later told reporters that Tanal had approached to assault Gürlek, and he intervened to stop him. The CHP earlier claimed that they were simply opposed to Gürlek being sworn in as justice minister from his previous post as chief prosecutor of Istanbul. The party also admitted that their opposition had more to do with the assignment of Gürlek, who was behind several corruption investigations against CHP-run municipalities.
Addressing a meeting of provincial chairs of his AK Party in Ankara, Erdoğan said they witnessed "the fascist, arrogant politics of the CHP once again" on Wednesday. "They demonstrated all kinds of banditry to stop our ministers from taking the oaths," he said, referring to Gürlek as well as newly appointed Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi. "They occupied the pulpit of the nation."
"But you cannot stop what will happen, Mr. Özgür," Erdoğan said in reference to CHP Chair Özgür Özel, to the applause of AK Party members. "You cannot stop us. The ministers exercised their constitutional right and took oaths. What's done is done. Why were you so disturbed?" Erdoğan said.
"But it is difficult for them to give up their fascist mindset. Parliament is not a place where you can start fights whenever convenient. I wonder whether they are at Parliament to defend the rights of people or terrorize people," he said.
Erdoğan said the CHP's politics were "ugly" as evidenced by the latest incident. "You should not humiliate yourself more. I condemn this attack that undermines people's trust in politics and harms the dignity of Parliament," he told the audience on Thursday, which included Gürlek and Çiftçi. Both ministers greeted AK Party members at the meeting and thanked Erdoğan for their appointment.
Gürlek has been targeted by several prominent members of the CHP, including Özel. Istanbul's former mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, who was arrested for corruption last March, was also being tried for publicly threatening Gürlek and his family after the latter was investigated by Gürlek's office.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also had scathing remarks against the CHP over the scuffle at Parliament. In a written statement, the head of the government ally said the CHP would not be excused for its anti-democratic and fascist actions.
"This intolerant attitude has nothing to do with democracy and politics. The CHP's depressing political attitude targets the Turkish state and its administration, and they are obviously hostile to the national will. We fully support our new ministers," he said.
