A mass brawl broke out in the Turkish parliament on Wednesday, with rival politicians fighting each other in front of the lectern.
The riot began when Ahmet Sik, a member of parliament from the Turkish Workers' Party (TIP), insulted members of the AK Party led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country's president.
His verbal attack, delivered from the rostrum, drew angry reactions from a group of AK Party MPs.
They stormed the stage, with one MP punching Mr Sik and forcing him to the ground.
Mr Sik responded by hitting out at rival MPs, sparking a mass brawl involving some 40 MPs.
Bekir Bozdag, the vice-chairman, had to interrupt the meeting for 15 minutes until order was restored.
The fight took place during an extraordinary parliamentary session convened to discuss the status of Can Atalay, the TIP MP serving an 18-year prison sentence for “aiding and abetting an attempt to overthrow the Turkish government”.
TIP is a left-wing opposition party that advocates for the rights of the Kurdish people, while AK is the ruling party of Turkey, led by Mr Erdogan.
Atalay, 48, was convicted in 2022 but was elected as a TIP MP last year while still in prison.
His imprisonment has been described as a “gross injustice” by Amnesty International and they have called for his immediate release.
In January 2024, parliament stripped Mr Atalay of his seat, despite a ruling by the country's Constitutional Court that had blocked the move.
Normally, parliament is in summer recess until October 1, but opposition parties forced the extraordinary session to discuss Mr Atalay's status.
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