A Turkish opposition lawmaker died this Thursday, two days after suffering a heart attack while speaking in parliament about the war between Israel and Hamas.
Hasan Bitmez, 54, of the Felicity (Saadet) Party, died in Ankara hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told journalists.
Bitmez was married and had a son.
The deputy was president of the Islamic Union Research Center and had previously worked for Islamic non-governmental organizations.
Television footage shows Bitmez falling to the floor in parliament on Tuesday after speaking during a parliamentary session.
In his speech, Bitmez criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party for Turkey’s continued trade with Israel despite the war in Gaza and the government’s criticism of Israel’s military bombing.
“You allow ships to go to Israel and shamelessly call it trade. You are Israel’s accomplices,” he said, after placing a banner on stage that read: “Israeli murderer; 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 said, suddenly falling to the ground after finishing speaking.
A biopsy performed on the day of the heart attack showed that the two main arteries in Bitmez’s heart were completely blocked.
“His heart stopped beating, he was revived in parliament and transported to hospital within 20 minutes,” where the machines kept him alive for about 48 hours.
The Saadet Islamic Party joined the main opposition bloc and backed Kemal Kilicdaroglu in May’s presidential election against Erdogan.
Source: DN
