'Talat Pasha' tension in the Turkish Parliament: Remarks by DEM Party MP raise tensions!

Tensions rose in the Turkish Grand National Assembly during the deliberations on the Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Laws and Decree-Laws.

The tension was caused by the criticisms of DEM Party MP George Aslan regarding the Talat Pasha Monument erected in Ankara.

Aslan stated the following:

"In 1915, when the Ottoman population was 13 million, approximately three million of this population consisted of Christian peoples, namely Armenians, Greeks, and Syriacs. Today, we are in 2025, exactly 110 years have passed. While Turkey's population is 86 million, why is the population of Christian peoples expressed in the tens of thousands when it should normally have reached millions? What happened to these people? Of course, no answer came to this question I asked. While we were expecting a sincere confrontation regarding the genocide experienced against Christian peoples in 1915, on the contrary, the names of the perpetrators are being given to public spaces, streets, parks, and schools, and their monuments are being erected. A monument was built for Talat Pasha in the Altındağ district by Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş. We do not accept the erection of a monument for someone who gave the death order for tens of thousands of Armenians who were killed, exiled, and whose property was seized in 1915, when a monument should have been erected for them. Some people may be heroes for one nation, but for other nations, these people are not heroes but murderers."

IYI Party Manisa MP Şenol Sunat responded harshly to these words. Sunat stated, "I condemn the person who came to this podium and spoke before me. The Turkish nation can never accept these slanders. It cannot."

Sunat's speech is as follows:

“Unfortunately, we see that members of some parties who come to this podium should not make speeches by distorting history, slandering the great Turkish nation, and glorifying traitors here. That is why I condemn the person who came here. Actually, there is a lot to say to you, but it seems you have gained self-confidence lately. But know this, as the Turkish nation, neither Talat Pasha nor these slanders, which are called the so-called Armenian genocide and which foreign sources and imperial powers have put into your brains, can ever be accepted by the Turkish nation.”

Following this outburst, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Tekin Bingöl warned Sunat about her tone of speech.

The Deputy Speaker's warning and the interruption of Sunat's speech angered IYI Party Clerk Member Yasin Öztürk. Showing his reaction by hitting the presidential podium, Öztürk left the session.

Following the argument, Tekin Bingöl adjourned the session.

DEBATE ON CENSURE PENALTY

After the break, the imposition of a censure penalty on Yasin Öztürk was brought to the agenda. In the vote held, the imposition of a censure penalty on Öztürk was accepted in the General Assembly.

IYI Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu reacted harshly to this decision on social media. Stating that they do not accept the censure penalty, Dervişoğlu said, "Our conviction that CHP's Tekin Bingöl lacks the foresight and wisdom to manage the Parliament has become even clearer as of today."