After Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Şamil Tayyar claimed that a colleague was bitten on the leg during a brawl in the Turkish Parliament on Wednesday night, an opposition party, one of whose members is accused of inflicting the wound, is demanding proof.
AKP deputy Tayyar wrote in a message from his Twitter account in the early hours of Thursday: “A dishonest man bit our Trabzon deputy in the leg. We have even seen this.”
Trabzon deputy Muhammet Balta said he was most definitely bitten since he had to have a tetanus shot after the incident.
Deputy Chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Özgür Özel challenged the accusation and asked for a medical examination of the wound. Another CHP deputy, Eren Erdem, denied allegations by some that it was he who bit the deputy, saying that he would sue people who circulate such stories.
Balta said he is sure it was a CHP deputy who bit him.
On Thursday, AKP deputies entered the General Assembly holding banners that said “Dogs are not allowed” following the claim that Balta was bitten on the leg.
Turkish deputies exchanged blows in a brawl in Parliament as tempers reached the boiling point in a debate on a constitutional reform package to expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Deputies from the AKP and main opposition CHP threw punches and shoved one another as they crowded around the assembly podium.