Civilnet
Garo Paylan , you are not alone
Garo Paylan, a member of the Turkish Parliament from the People's Democratic Party (HDP) comments on the May 2nd brawl, the second in a week, and brings evidence that the altercations were pre-planned and targeted him personally.
To the attention of the press members and the public:
The attack at the Commission is a pre-meditated lynch attempt
The altercations and the fight erupted on May 2, 2016, during the discussions at the Constitution Commission on the constitutional amendment bill is a pre-planned lynch attempt.
Today, there have been reports on the pro-government media, claiming that I had "triggered" and "provoked" the fight and that the HDP MPs caused the physical violence that was lived. These reports clearly twist the facts.
In fact, when Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ said "(...) the consultants of MPs participated in this violence" about the fights occured the previous day, I replied to him as "No, they did not". As can be seen in the minutes, there is nothing that could be referred as a provocation in my words. (The minutes of the Constitution Commission of May 2, 2016 can be found in Turkish at: https://www.tbmm.gov.tr/…/o…/komisyon_tutanaklari.goruntule…)
Right after that, as the video footage reveals, a fight burst out as AKP's Istanbul MP Mehmet Metiner physically attacked me which initiated a planned lynch.
Physical attacks increasingly continued and AKP's MPs pointed out and targeted me by calling out as "Come over, Garo is here!" and making remarks that amount to hate speech about my Armenian identity.
In addition to the continuing attacks against all HDP MPs since last week, I have personally been targeted by AKP MPs because of my Armenian identity and been subjected to hate speech.
This lays bare that the attacks is a pre-meditated lynch attempt by the AKP MPs and I was particularly been chosen as a target.
I condemn the hate speech and the hate crime against me and my identity.
Let us not forget that the fascists are cowards and they can only attack as a crowd and dastardly.
Garo PAYLANHDP MP, representing Istanbul03.05.2016
To remind, the cause of recent eruptions of physical clashes in the Turkish Parliament has been the proposed constitutional amendment concerning parliamentary immunity. HDP has been opposed to the bill, pointing out that it will be a tool in the hands of the ruling party to target opposition MPs. The discussion and vote on the proposal was postponed following the first brawl in the Parliament last Friday. However, following the May 2nd incident, the Turkish Grand National Assembly Constitutional Committee continued its work, even in the absence of some parliamentarians and accepted the proposal concerning lifting parliamentary immunity.
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