Turkish nationalist opposition party's lawmaker was punched in the head on Tuesday during a heated budget debate in the parliament, after which he was rushed to the intensive care unit.

A tweet shared by Visegrad 24 showed the lawmaker of the Iyi (Good) Party Huseyin Ors getting punched by Zafer Isik, a ruling AKP parliamentarian. During the brawl, various other lawmakers fell to the ground.&nbsp;

Watch the video here:&nbsp;

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Heated debate in the Turkish Parliament about next year’s budget. 
 
One MP taken to hospital with suspected head trauma. <a href="https://t.co/EMAAioHD2F">pic.twitter.com/EMAAioHD2F</a>
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) <a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1600146674143199233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

&nbsp;

Lawmaker of Fellow Iyi Party Aylin Cesur, who is a doctor by profession and who had administered first aid to the MP on the chamber's floor, said that the condition of Ors was critical.

"He is still being treated in intensive care. I am very sad. His general condition was not good after the blow to the head,” Cesur said, as quoted by DHA.

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Numerous fights have been witnessed by the lively parliament of Turkey during particularly sensitive debates. A similar incident occurred in 2020 when a fistfight erupted in the parliament over discussions on the military involvement of Turkey in Syria.

The budget debates are taking place this year with different lawmakers trying to secure their interests ahead of the next presidential and parliamentary polls.

Spokesman of the Iyi Party Kursat Zorlu said that the incident marked "a sad day for the Turkish Grand National Assembly and a shameful day for those who carried out this attack."

So far, no comment was issued by the AKP party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the incident.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

Turkish nationalist opposition party's lawmaker was punched in the head on Tuesday during a heated budget debate in the parliament, after which he was rushed to the intensive care unit.

Turkish nationalist opposition party's lawmaker was punched in the head on Tuesday during a heated budget debate in the parliament, after which he was rushed to the intensive care unit. A tweet shared by Visegrad 24 showed the lawmaker of the Iyi (Good) Party Huseyin Ors getting punched by Zafer Isik, a ruling AKP parliamentarian. During the brawl, various other lawmakers fell to the ground. Watch the video here: Heated debate in the Turkish Parliament about next year’s budget. One MP taken to hospital with suspected head trauma. pic.twitter.com/EMAAioHD2F — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 6, 2022 Lawmaker of Fellow Iyi Party Aylin Cesur, who is a doctor by profession and who had administered first aid to the MP on the chamber's floor, said that the condition of Ors was critical. "He is still being treated in intensive care. I am very sad. His general condition was not good after the blow to the head,” Cesur said, as quoted by DHA. ALSO READ| North Korea executed two teenagers for watching South Korean films, claims report Numerous fights have been witnessed by the lively parliament of Turkey during particularly sensitive debates. A similar incident occurred in 2020 when a fistfight erupted in the parliament over discussions on the military involvement of Turkey in Syria. The budget debates are taking place this year with different lawmakers trying to secure their interests ahead of the next presidential and parliamentary polls. Spokesman of the Iyi Party Kursat Zorlu said that the incident marked "a sad day for the Turkish Grand National Assembly and a shameful day for those who carried out this attack." So far, no comment was issued by the AKP party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the incident. (With inputs from agencies)

WATCH: Turkish MP gets punched in parliament, rushed to intensive care unit

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/key-developments-in-turkeys-offensive-in-syria-256638">Turkey's military incursion in Syria</a> has given President Tayyip Erdogan a bump in opinion polls and exposed potential cracks in an informal political alliance that claimed surprise victories over his ruling party in local elections this year.

The operation in northeast Syria came after months of stagnant approval ratings for Erdogan, who had appeared vulnerable after his AK Party (AKP) lost control of Turkey's two biggest cities for the first time since he took power in 2003.

Opposition lawmakers told Reuters they suspected Ankara's decision to launch cross-border attacks on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia was taken largely to revive Erdogan's political fortunes at home. The government denies any such motive.

Erdogan's popularity had come under pressure after last year's currency crisis caused a recession that sent unemployment soaring, and also from criticism by former prominent AKP members who are expected soon to launch new parties.

But some three-quarters of Turks support the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eight-killed-in-bombing-in-turkish-controlled-northeast-syria-261218">Syrian incursion</a>, launched on October&nbsp;9, polls show, despite international condemnation, including by Ankara's NATO allies.

Erdogan's own approval rating rose last month to 48 per cent, a Metropole survey showed, its highest since shortly before the height of the currency crisis last year. His disapproval rating was at its lowest since a coup attempt in 2016.

Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist group with links to Kurdish militants at home. It has struck deals with Moscow and Washington to push back from the border region YPG fighters, who for years were US&nbsp;allies in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

The incursion put the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in a bind: its conditional support for the action put it at odds with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) that helped it win the Istanbul and Ankara mayoralties.

The leftist HDP, mainly backed by Kurds who make up some 18 per cent&nbsp;of the population, is the only major party opposing the mission.

Earlier this year the HDP offered outside support to an alliance of the secularist CHP and the nationalist Iyi Party, who oppose what they see as Erdogan's authoritarianism and handed him stinging losses in March and June local elections.

Any splintering between these parties would be a further boon for Erdogan, though one CHP lawmaker said he expected their cooperation to continue.

"It is clear that the aim (of Erdogan)... is to demolish this democracy alliance that the CHP has formed... and to weaken the relationship that it has formed with Kurdish voters," said Sezgin Tanrikulu, who opposes the Syria operation.

"It has created a disenchantment but in my opinion, this is not irreparable. The period ahead of us will be a period in which... the relationship of trust will be established again."

Commenting on Erdogan's improved ratings, Lutfu Turkkan, deputy group chairman of the Iyi Party, said polling firms were confusing support for the troops with support for the president.

"The soldiers have succeeded but the politicians and diplomats have yet to achieve something (in Syria)," he said.

But Turkkan also dismissed the HDP's criticism of the incursion. "The HDP's rhetoric on this has no meaning for us" because removing terrorists from Turkey's borders is a matter of national survival, he said.

The CHP and Iyi Party have 139 and 39 seats respectively in Turkey's 600-seat parliament. They both backed a mandate extending military operations in Syria and Iraq while the HDP, with 62 seats, opposed it as a violation of international law.

The opposition cannot afford to splinter if it hopes to challenge Erdogan on a national level given roughly half of Turks have strongly backed him for years.

A source close to Erdogan's AKP said&nbsp;"it will be extremely important who sides with whom" in the next election, adding "there is a warming" between the Iyi Party and the AKP.

Iyi Party chairwoman Meral Aksener has previously denied the two parties were getting closer.

The incursion has deepened a sense of alienation among Turkey's Kurds, especially after Ankara ousted some HDP mayors and arrested dozens of people in the country's southeast.

Underlining the CHP's dilemma, a poll shared among its members and seen by Reuters showed some 46 per cent&nbsp;of its voters either disapproved of the Syria operation or were undecided. The CHP backed the mission even while it carved out policy differences from the AKP including calling for dialogue with Damascus.

"This support (from the CHP) was a lifeline for the AKP. That was what they wanted and they got it," said HDP lawmaker Meral Danis Bestas, adding that her party would now have to decide on its future cooperation with other parties.

Turkey's military conducted two other operations in northern Syria over the last three years. Shortly after each, Turks were sent to the polls for a referendum in 2017 and for nationwide elections in 2018.

"This pattern suggests this was the main motivation for the mission," said Unal Cevikoz, the CHP's deputy chairman.

Turkey's military incursion in Syria has given President Tayyip Erdogan a bump in opinion polls and exposed potential cracks in an informal political alliance that claimed surprise victories over his ruling party in local elections this year.

Turkey's military incursion in Syria has given President Tayyip Erdogan a bump in opinion polls and exposed potential cracks in an informal political alliance that claimed surprise victories over his ruling party in local elections this year. The operation in northeast Syria came after months of stagnant approval ratings for Erdogan, who had appeared vulnerable after his AK Party (AKP) lost control of Turkey's two biggest cities for the first time since he took power in 2003. Opposition lawmakers told Reuters they suspected Ankara's decision to launch cross-border attacks on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia was taken largely to revive Erdogan's political fortunes at home. The government denies any such motive. Erdogan's popularity had come under pressure after last year's currency crisis caused a recession that sent unemployment soaring, and also from criticism by former prominent AKP members who are expected soon to launch new parties. But some three-quarters of Turks support the Syrian incursion, launched on October 9, polls show, despite international condemnation, including by Ankara's NATO allies. Erdogan's own approval rating rose last month to 48 per cent, a Metropole survey showed, its highest since shortly before the height of the currency crisis last year. His disapproval rating was at its lowest since a coup attempt in 2016. Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist group with links to Kurdish militants at home. It has struck deals with Moscow and Washington to push back from the border region YPG fighters, who for years were US allies in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. The incursion put the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in a bind: its conditional support for the action put it at odds with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) that helped it win the Istanbul and Ankara mayoralties. The leftist HDP, mainly backed by Kurds who make up some 18 per cent of the population, is the only major party opposing the mission. Earlier this year the HDP offered outside support to an alliance of the secularist CHP and the nationalist Iyi Party, who oppose what they see as Erdogan's authoritarianism and handed him stinging losses in March and June local elections. Any splintering between these parties would be a further boon for Erdogan, though one CHP lawmaker said he expected their cooperation to continue. "It is clear that the aim (of Erdogan)... is to demolish this democracy alliance that the CHP has formed... and to weaken the relationship that it has formed with Kurdish voters," said Sezgin Tanrikulu, who opposes the Syria operation. "It has created a disenchantment but in my opinion, this is not irreparable. The period ahead of us will be a period in which... the relationship of trust will be established again." Commenting on Erdogan's improved ratings, Lutfu Turkkan, deputy group chairman of the Iyi Party, said polling firms were confusing support for the troops with support for the president. "The soldiers have succeeded but the politicians and diplomats have yet to achieve something (in Syria)," he said. But Turkkan also dismissed the HDP's criticism of the incursion. "The HDP's rhetoric on this has no meaning for us" because removing terrorists from Turkey's borders is a matter of national survival, he said. The CHP and Iyi Party have 139 and 39 seats respectively in Turkey's 600-seat parliament. They both backed a mandate extending military operations in Syria and Iraq while the HDP, with 62 seats, opposed it as a violation of international law. The opposition cannot afford to splinter if it hopes to challenge Erdogan on a national level given roughly half of Turks have strongly backed him for years. A source close to Erdogan's AKP said "it will be extremely important who sides with whom" in the next election, adding "there is a warming" between the Iyi Party and the AKP. Iyi Party chairwoman Meral Aksener has previously denied the two parties were getting closer. The incursion has deepened a sense of alienation among Turkey's Kurds, especially after Ankara ousted some HDP mayors and arrested dozens of people in the country's southeast. Underlining the CHP's dilemma, a poll shared among its members and seen by Reuters showed some 46 per cent of its voters either disapproved of the Syria operation or were undecided. The CHP backed the mission even while it carved out policy differences from the AKP including calling for dialogue with Damascus. "This support (from the CHP) was a lifeline for the AKP. That was what they wanted and they got it," said HDP lawmaker Meral Danis Bestas, adding that her party would now have to decide on its future cooperation with other parties. Turkey's military conducted two other operations in northern Syria over the last three years. Shortly after each, Turks were sent to the polls for a referendum in 2017 and for nationwide elections in 2018. "This pattern suggests this was the main motivation for the mission," said Unal Cevikoz, the CHP's deputy chairman.

Turkey's Syria operation reveals cracks among Erdogan's political foes

Turkish police on Monday arrested nine people, including a member of the ruling AKP party, after a mob attack on opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu that sparked widespread criticism.

Kilicdaroglu, 70, of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was assaulted on Sunday in a crowd as he attended a funeral in Ankara for a soldier killed fighting Kurdish militants in the southeast.&nbsp;

The attack came days after the opposition CHP won Ankara and Istanbul from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP in March 31 local elections, seen as a major setback for the ruling party after a decade-and-a-half in power.&nbsp;

A video of Sunday's attack showed the CHP leader being mobbed and punched, then chanting crowds surrounded a house where he was taken for his protection. The images went viral on social media.

CHP leaders blamed Erdogan's AKP for provoking the attack and demanded those detained be held accountable. They called for the interior minister to resign over the incident.

"This is not an ordinary attack, this is not an ordinary provocation. This is planned," CHP Istanbul chief Canan Kaftancioglu told several thousand of supporters at a rally from the top of a bus.

The crowds chanted slogans "Shoulder to shoulder against Fascism," and waved banners reading: "Are you so scared by the CHP's success?" in reference to the AKP's loss of Istanbul and Ankara.

During campaigning for the local polls, Erdogan often accused Kilicdaroglu and the CHP of backing the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and showed videos of the opposition leader at his rallies.

Kilicdaroglu was not badly injured in the assault.

The chief suspect in Sunday's attack, identified only by his initials OS, was arrested in Sivrihisar in central Anatolia and was being taken to Ankara, private NTV television reported.

The AKP later identified him as Osman Sarigun and said he was a party member who would face expulsion.&nbsp;

"AKP is against any form of violence... There is no room for violence in democratic politics," AKP spokesman Omer Celik said on Twitter.

Eight other people have also been detained, officials said.&nbsp;

Speaking to AFP, the CHP's Kaftancioglu welcomed the move to expel the suspect but said the problem was about the polarisation of Turkish society.

"The situation will not change with one person's dismissal unless the mentality encouraging attackers by polarising society changes," she said.

Vote setback

Erdogan had presented the local elections as a matter of national survival. He campaigned heavily even though he was not running in the election himself.

For his supporters, Erdogan is the strong leader Turkey needs to deal with its security threats and is a voice for more religiously conservative Turks.

Critics say Erdogan has stoked divisions by branding foes as enemies of the state and has undermined the rule of law with a broad crackdown on dissent.

The AKP has won every election since coming to power 17 years ago, but voters appeared to punish the party in major cities in this ballot as the economy slid into recession after a currency crisis last year.

Electoral authorities have given the CHP candidates their mandates for the Istanbul and Ankara mayor posts, but Erdogan's AKP is seeking a re-run of the Istanbul vote, citing irregularities.

The CHP's Ekrem Imamoglu won the Istanbul race by a very tight margin after two weeks of recounts.

The CHP held Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu responsible for "provocation" after he said last year he had ordered governors not to allow CHP members to join soldiers' funerals.

Soylu ruled out any "outside provocation" in the incident, and said the main culprit was a relative of the dead soldier.

Turkish police on Monday arrested nine people, including a member of the ruling AKP party, after a mob attack on opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu that sparked widespread criticism.

Turkish police on Monday arrested nine people, including a member of the ruling AKP party, after a mob attack on opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu that sparked widespread criticism. Kilicdaroglu, 70, of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was assaulted on Sunday in a crowd as he attended a funeral in Ankara for a soldier killed fighting Kurdish militants in the southeast. The attack came days after the opposition CHP won Ankara and Istanbul from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP in March 31 local elections, seen as a major setback for the ruling party after a decade-and-a-half in power. A video of Sunday's attack showed the CHP leader being mobbed and punched, then chanting crowds surrounded a house where he was taken for his protection. The images went viral on social media. CHP leaders blamed Erdogan's AKP for provoking the attack and demanded those detained be held accountable. They called for the interior minister to resign over the incident. "This is not an ordinary attack, this is not an ordinary provocation. This is planned," CHP Istanbul chief Canan Kaftancioglu told several thousand of supporters at a rally from the top of a bus. The crowds chanted slogans "Shoulder to shoulder against Fascism," and waved banners reading: "Are you so scared by the CHP's success?" in reference to the AKP's loss of Istanbul and Ankara. During campaigning for the local polls, Erdogan often accused Kilicdaroglu and the CHP of backing the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and showed videos of the opposition leader at his rallies. Kilicdaroglu was not badly injured in the assault. The chief suspect in Sunday's attack, identified only by his initials OS, was arrested in Sivrihisar in central Anatolia and was being taken to Ankara, private NTV television reported. The AKP later identified him as Osman Sarigun and said he was a party member who would face expulsion. "AKP is against any form of violence... There is no room for violence in democratic politics," AKP spokesman Omer Celik said on Twitter. Eight other people have also been detained, officials said. Speaking to AFP, the CHP's Kaftancioglu welcomed the move to expel the suspect but said the problem was about the polarisation of Turkish society. "The situation will not change with one person's dismissal unless the mentality encouraging attackers by polarising society changes," she said. Vote setback Erdogan had presented the local elections as a matter of national survival. He campaigned heavily even though he was not running in the election himself. For his supporters, Erdogan is the strong leader Turkey needs to deal with its security threats and is a voice for more religiously conservative Turks. Critics say Erdogan has stoked divisions by branding foes as enemies of the state and has undermined the rule of law with a broad crackdown on dissent. The AKP has won every election since coming to power 17 years ago, but voters appeared to punish the party in major cities in this ballot as the economy slid into recession after a currency crisis last year. Electoral authorities have given the CHP candidates their mandates for the Istanbul and Ankara mayor posts, but Erdogan's AKP is seeking a re-run of the Istanbul vote, citing irregularities. The CHP's Ekrem Imamoglu won the Istanbul race by a very tight margin after two weeks of recounts. The CHP held Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu responsible for "provocation" after he said last year he had ordered governors not to allow CHP members to join soldiers' funerals. Soylu ruled out any "outside provocation" in the incident, and said the main culprit was a relative of the dead soldier.

Turkish police arrest  ruling AKP party member, eight others after opposition chief attack

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WATCH: Turkish MP gets punched in parliament, rushed to intensive care unit

Turkey's Syria operation reveals cracks among Erdogan's political foes

Turkish police arrest ruling AKP party member, eight others after opposition chief attack