ANKARA - The speaker of the Turkish parliament was forced to adjourn a crucial debate over a censure motion against the Islamist-led government yesterday following a brawl by the deputies.
MPs began to rush to the front of the house after the main opposition leader, Mr Mesut Yilmaz, referred to a statement by the army that accused the government of hostility towards Kemal Ataturk, secularist Turkey's revered founder. Parliamentary deputies shoved and kicked each other, while one deputy was squeezed to shoulder height and literally carried off in a tide of other MPs to the side of the house.