{"id":167646,"date":"2012-03-12T14:24:38","date_gmt":"2012-03-12T10:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epress.am\/?p=167646"},"modified":"2012-03-12T14:33:25","modified_gmt":"2012-03-12T10:33:25","slug":"turkey-controversial-education-bill-passes-amid-brawl-between-lawmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/2012\/03\/12\/turkey-controversial-education-bill-passes-amid-brawl-between-lawmakers.html","title":{"rendered":"Turkey Controversial Education Bill Passes Amid Brawl Between Lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) yesterday rushed a controversial education bill through Parliament\u2019s Education Commission amid an unprecedented melee that saw lawmakers punch and kick each other, hurl swear words and harass journalists, the H\u00fcrriyet Daily News<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span> reports.<\/p>\n

Commission chair Nabi Avc\u0131 took his opportunity in the midst of the chaos and hastily read out the remaining 20 articles of the draft, which were quickly approved by AKP votes without any discussion.<\/p>\n

The whole procedure was completed in about 30 minutes, compared to the six-day sessions at which the first six articles were approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cDown with the AKP dictatorship,\u201d infuriated lawmakers of the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP) chanted in the corridors of Parliament, as AKP deputies congratulated and applauded each other.<\/p>\n

The scene for the brawl was set earlier, when about 100 AKP lawmakers packed the meeting room an hour ahead of the session, leaving several seats only for the Commission\u2019s opposition members. The pre-determined strategy, which followed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s adamant defense of the bill, aimed to block CHP tactics of protracting the debate through crowded attendance and lengthy speeches<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

When some 50 CHP lawmakers arrived for the meeting, they found themselves stuck at the door. Their objections led to harsh exchanges that soon degenerated into fistfights and kicks. Two CHP lawmakers collapsed to the floor as plastic bottles flew in the air. One camera operator was taken to hospital with a head injury.<\/p>\n

The Commission chair, however, did not stop the vote and had the whole draft approved amidst the pandemonium.<\/p>\n

Avc\u0131 defended his conduct later and put the blame on the opposition. \u201cThe CHP said it would force the withdrawal of the bill. The Commission did not bow down to their threats,\u201d he said. CHP lawmakers took the floor about 130 times during the debate, which took almost 92 hours in total, he said.<\/p>\n

Avc\u0131 displayed a bulky metal tape dispenser, which, he said, was hurled at him by the CHP\u2019s Akif Hamza\u00e7ebi.<\/p>\n

As the brawl raged, the AKP deputies also approved four changes to the draft, including one that would allow secondary school students to choose elective courses according to their talent and interests.<\/p>\n

CHP leader Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu, who was meeting with teachers and journalists about the bill in Istanbul, condemned the session as \u201ca black stain in the history of democracy\u201d and declared the bill\u2019s approval \u201cillegitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CHP\u2019s Muharrem \u0130nce said: \u201cParliamentary democracy is finished. Bandits have descended on Parliament in broad daylight. See you at the second round at the General Assembly.\u201d The CHP immediately convened an extraordinary meeting in Parliament, which was still under way when the H\u00fcrriyet Daily News went to print.<\/p>\n

Mehmet \u015eand\u0131r of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said the approval of the draft was \u201cnull and void,\u201d and called Parliament Speaker Cemil \u00c7i\u00e7ek to action.<\/p>\n

However, \u00c7i\u00e7ek simply said that his efforts over the past two days for a compromise had failed to bear fruit and voiced his regret over the incident.<\/p>\n

Critics say the bill was designed to re-open the secondary school stage of imam-hatip religious schools. The draft is also under fire for its early introduction of vocational classes, and a provision that would open the door to students to opt out of school in favor of home study after eight years. Such arrangements would encourage child labor and undermine the schooling of girls, critics say.<\/p>\n

Photo: Reuters (retrieved from\u00a0the H\u00fcrriyet Daily News)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turkey’s Justice and Development Party rushed a controversial education bill through Parliament\u2019s Education Commission amid an unprecedented melee…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tstyn_error":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12893,25479,39203,24771,680,39204,28632,10222],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}