Debate at Turkish parliament sends fists flying

Debate on controversial judicial reforms has heated up at the Turkish parliament, leading to a brawl that injured a member of the legislature.

The fracas flared on Thursday after one lawmaker spoke about claims that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son, Bilal, had been summoned to testify as part of a major corruption probe.

The deputy leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Bulent Tezcan, was injured and taken to hospital as fists flew in the assembly.

The legislature is expected to vote from late Friday on a bill aimed at giving the government greater control over the judiciary.

Fistfights also erupted earlier this month when MPs were debating the justice bill in a parliamentary commission.

The anti-graft investigation, involving several governmental officials and prominent businessmen, became public last month. The investigation broke out on December 17 after Erdogan’s allies were arrested on graft charges.

Erdogan was then forced to carry out a major cabinet reshuffle after three of his ministers resigned as their sons were detained in the probe.

The Turkish prime minister denounced the probe as a “dirty plot” to undermine his government ahead of the local elections in March, and sacked hundreds of police chiefs in a major purge.