Brawl breaks out in Turkish parliament as MPs trade punches over Syria offensive

Video shows MPs shoving each other and standing on top of desks

A fight erupted in Turkey’s parliament over Ankara's military action in Syria, which has divided opinion domestically.

Chaos broke loose after a vocal critic of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the intervention took to the stand during a tense discussion about the country’s involvement in neighbouring Idlib province in Syria.

Video footage of the brawl shows members of parliament shoving each other and standing up on desks.

Dozens joined in with the scrap between opposition parties on Wednesday, which saw some politicians throwing punches while others tried to put an end to the fight.

The clash on Wednesday started when Engin Ozkoc, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), went up to make a speech.

During a news conference shortly before, Mr Ozkoc called the Turkey’s president ”dishonourable, ignoble, low and treacherous”.

He also accused Mr Erdogan of sending Turkey's youth to fight while his own children allegedly avoided long-term military service, as well as claiming the president had irresponsibly sent troops into a conflict without air cover.

During a speech to members of his party, Mr Erdogan had previously accused the opposition of being “dishonourable, ignoble, low and treacherous” for questioning Turkey’s military action in Syria’s northwest province.

Tensions are running high following the deaths of more than 50 Turkish soldiers in Idlib in the past month, including 33 who were killed in an attack last Thursday.

Turkey has sent thousands of troops to Syria to help prevent a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive to retake Idlib province and to support Syrian opposition fighters holed up there since October.

The main opposition party – to which Mr Ozkoc belongs – has questioned the president’s approach to war-torn Syria in the past and said they wanted to see negotiations with the regime.

“The ruling party has made Turkey one of the primary responsible parties of the destructive war in Syria through the wrong policies insistently pursued since 2011 despite all the warnings,” the People’s Republican Party said last year.

“AKP administrations have made their choices in favour of war rather than peace, leading to prolonged conflicts and continued deferral of peace.”

Wednesday’s fight is not the first time politicians have clashed in the Turkish parliament, which has seen several scraps over the past few years.

In 2016, MPs turned on each other during a debate over whether their immunity from prosecution should be lifted.

A year later, a politician handcuffed herself to the rostrum to protest against proposals to give Mr Erdogan more power, which ended up in a scuffle between politicians.

Additional reporting by agencies