Turkish nationalist party MP likens pro-Kurdish party lawyers to 'pack of dogs'
A MHP deputy has likened the lawyers of HDP Youth Assembly members to a "pack of dogs," while also calling them "terrorists" during a meeting of the Parliamentary Human Rights Inquiry Commission. The deputy's remarks were slammed by the HDP, with its lawmakers leaving the meeting and urging MHP deputy Metin Sazak to resign.
Duvar English
A lawmaker from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has likened lawyers of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to a "pack of dogs," prompting lawmakers of the latter to protest the move.
The lawmakers were discussing the torture allegations against HDP Youth Assembly members, who have been under police custody for nearly two weeks, when MHP deputy Metin Sazak made the remarks.
"Those terrorists have lawyers like a pack of dogs," Sazak said during a meeting of the Parliamentary Human Rights Inquiry Commission on Nov. 14, which was followed by HDP lawmakers asking him to apologize.
Sazak, however, refused to apologize and HDP lawmakers left the meeting.
HDP lawmakers and members are often accused of being supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - a group designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Later in the day, HDP deputies Ebru Günay, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu and Meral Danış Beştaş made a statement to the press regarding the incident.
"When we told the commission that the lawyers detected torture, Sazak called the lawyers a 'pack of dogs.' He actually humiliated all the lawyers with these words," Beştaş said, as she also called for Sazak's resignation.
"We believe that the members of the human rights commission must go through a training," she added.