'PKK affection' tension between Numan Kurtulmuş and IYI Party's Usta: He left the hall

Tension erupted during the budget deliberations after IYI Party Group Spokesperson Erhan Usta asked Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, "We have understood that you have a love for the PKK. What I don't understand is, where does Abdullah Öcalan's love for Numan Kurtulmuş come from?"

Describing Usta's words as "impertinence," Kurtulmuş left the committee. Kurtulmuş stated, "This colleague of ours must clearly state in this hall that he retracts these words he has spoken. I am not a PKK sympathizer or lover. If I am to have any love, it is for my homeland and my nation."

According to the report by Nisanur Yıldırım from Nefes, Usta continued his remarks by saying, "Abdullah Öcalan says, 'This convention must be established and Numan Kurtulmuş must lead it.' This was in 2013, colleagues. You are also obliged to explain this. Perhaps one should ask Abdullah Öcalan, but since we cannot ask him, I am obliged to ask you. Alright? The question is very clear. Where does Abdullah Öcalan's love for Numan Kurtulmuş come from?"

HE LEFT SAYING "IMPERTINENCE"

Reacting sharply to Usta's words, Kurtulmuş left the committee. Kurtulmuş said the following:

This is an impertinence far beyond the scope of heavy and hurtful words. This colleague of ours must clearly state in this hall that he retracts these words he has spoken. I am not a PKK sympathizer or lover. If you accept it as such, I return it to you. Do not continue this political show you are putting on with cheap tricks. If I am to have any love, it is for my homeland and my nation. I consider every one of the 86 million members of this nation as my own sibling.

I know that all those who want to sow division among the people of this country by calling them Turks or Kurds are harming this country and committing an injustice. I believe that all those who divide the people of this country into rightists-leftists or Alevis-Sunnis are betraying the homeland. To say such a thing to a man who has expressed such clear ideas throughout his 40-year political life is, to put it mildly, impertinence, injustice, and rudeness. I am getting up and leaving this hall.

Following Kurtulmuş's departure from the budget deliberations, Usta said, "Apo slogans will be chanted, and we won't be able to say anything, right? Slogans for Öcalan are being chanted here."

Following the tension, the budget deliberations were adjourned.

ÇÖMEZ REPLACED USTA

Numan Kurtulmuş moved to the office of Committee Chairman Mehmet Muş in the corridor where the Planning and Budget Committee is located. CHP Group Spokesperson and Malatya Deputy Veli Ağbaba, DEM Party Administrative Officer Salihe Aydeniz, and some other deputies went to the room. After a while, IYI Party Group Deputy Chairman Turhan Çömez also went to the room where Kurtulmuş was. Meanwhile, it was learned that some deputies from the opposition also met with Erhan Usta to resolve the tension.

After the traffic of meetings was completed, following an approximately 1.5-hour break, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş came to the Planning and Budget Committee hall and the deliberations resumed. While IYI Party Deputy Erhan Usta did not come to the hall, IYI Party Group Deputy Chairman Turhan Çömez came to the committee and sat in Erhan Usta's place.

News Source: 12punto