Hasan Bitmez dies at a hospital in Ankara two days after coronary heart assault throughout anti-Israel speech.
A Turkish opposition legislator who suffered a coronary heart assault and collapsed in parliament throughout a speech railing in opposition to the federal government’s coverage towards Israel has died.
Well being Minister Fahrettin Koca mentioned on Thursday that Hasan Bitmez, a 54-year-old member of the Islamist Saadet Partisi, or Felicity Get together, had died in an Ankara hospital two days after the incident.
“You allow ships to go to Israel, and you shamelessly call it trade. … You are Israel’s accomplice,” Bitmez mentioned in his speech focusing on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Growth Get together (AK Get together) on Tuesday after inserting a poster on the rostrum studying: “Murderer Israel; collaborator AKP.”
“Even if you escape the torment of history, you will not be able to escape the wrath of God,” he mentioned on the finish of the 20-minute speech earlier than collapsing on the lectern.
Different members of the Grand Nationwide Meeting rushed ahead to assist, and Koca mentioned on Tuesday that Bitmez had been “resuscitated in parliament and transferred within 20 minutes to hospital” the place medical tools had stored him alive.
The opposition determine, who was married and a father of 1, graduated from Cairo’s Al-Azhar College, labored for Islamic nongovernmental teams and was chairman of the Centre for Islamic Union Analysis.
His speech accused the federal government of constant pleasant financial relations with Israel throughout its assault on Gaza, which has killed almost 19,000 Palestinians. His remarks drew jeers from AK Get together members.
Whereas Erdogan has labored to improve ties with Israel after a interval of frosty relations, he has additionally railed against the present conflict between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, calling Israel a “terror state” and pushing for a ceasefire.
In a small ceremony on Thursday on the grounds of the Grand Nationwide Meeting, Bitmez’s coffin was draped with a Turkish flag, and a small Palestinian flag was connected as effectively.
