A Turkish opposition parliamentarian died this Thursday (14), two days after suffering a heart attack while speaking in parliament about the war in Gaza.
Hasan Bitmez, 54, a member of the opposition Felicity (Saadet) Party, died at Ankara City Hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters in televised statements. He leaves a wife and son.
A graduate of Cairo’s Al Azhar University, Bitmez was president of the Islamic Union Research Center and had previously worked for Islamic non-governmental organizations, according to his parliamentary biography.
The official broadcast from parliament showed Bitmez collapsing to the floor after speaking during a session on Tuesday (12).
He criticized President Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP Party over Turkey’s continued trade with Israel despite the war in Gaza, and despite the government’s rhetorical criticism of Israel’s military bombing.
“You allow ships to go to Israel and you shamelessly call it trade… You are Israel’s accomplice,” Bitmez said in his speech after placing a banner on the podium saying: “Murderer Israel; AKP collaborator”.
“You have the blood of the Palestinians on your hands, you are collaborators. You contribute to every bomb Israel drops on Gaza,” he told parliamentarians during the debate on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget for 2024.
After finishing his speech, Bitmez suddenly fell to the ground and parliamentarians rushed for help.
Doctors later said the biopsy revealed that the deputy’s two main heart veins were completely blocked.
“His heart stopped beating, he was soon resuscitated in parliament and transferred within 20 minutes to the hospital,” where medical machines kept him alive, the medical team said on the day of the heart attack.
The Saadet Islamic Party joined the main opposition bloc and supported Kemal Kilicdaroglu in May’s presidential election against Erdogan.
The alliance agreement allowed Saadet deputies like Bitmez to gain seats in parliament by being nominated by the opposition party.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Alexandra Hudson)
Source: CNN Brasil
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