Turkish television stations have repeatedly broadcast video footage showing Turkey’s Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu shouldering Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on Thursday during an official visit to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, before a Supreme Military Council meeting.
According to Turkish media the two ministers had a previous dispute over remarks made by Minister of Family and Social Policy Fatma Betül Sayın Kaya on a Turkish military offensive in Afrin, northern Syria.
Rumors indicated Soylu had called Kaya about her remarks, saying it was not her place to make statements on the Afrin operation, after which Albayrak told Soylu he should know his place.
Some reports on the incident also hinted at a power struggle between Soylu and Albayrak to become the successor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In the video footage shot by cameraman Berkcan Tuğ, Soylu smiled at the camera after bumping Albayrak, while Albayrak looked serious, even uttering some words that were unclear.
TV stations paid a great deal of attention to the footage, repeatedly running it from different angles, with Turkish Fox TV calling it “the sight of the day.”