An opposition Turkish lawmaker died on Thursday, two days after suffering a heart attack and collapsing in front of parliament as he finished a speech criticizing the government’s policy towards Israel.
Hasan Bitmez, 54, a member of parliament from the opposition Felicity (Saadet) party, died at Ankara City Hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters during a televised address.
A graduate of Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, Bitmez was chairman of the Islamic Union Research Center and previously worked for Islamic NGOs, according to his parliamentary biography.
He was married and the father of one child.
The parliament’s official broadcast showed Bitmez falling to the floor after standing on the rostrum before the general assembly on Tuesday.
He criticized President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) over Turkey’s continued trade with Israel, despite the war in Gaza, and despite the government’s sharp rhetorical criticism of military bombing of Israel.
“ You permit ships to get on to Israel and shamelessly call it trade. You’re an abettor of Israel, ” Bitmez said in a speech after placing a banner on the podium that read: “Killer Israel; collaborator of the AKP”.
” You have the blood of the Palestinians on your hands, you’re collaborators. You facilitate every bomb that Israel drops on Gaza,” he told lawmakers during a debate on the State Department’s 2024 budget.
After finishing the speech, Bitmez suddenly fell on the floor, and other deputies rushed from their seats to help.
Koja later said an angiogram showed two major veins in his heart were completely blocked.
“His heart stopped beating, then he was resuscitated in parliament and 20 minutes later he was transferred to the hospital,” where medical equipment saved his life, Kodja said on Tuesday.
The small Islamist Saadet Party has joined the main opposition bloc in backing challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in May’s presidential election against Erdogan, who won.
The alliance deal allowed Saadet MPs like Bitmez to win seats in parliament by being included on the lists of the main opposition CHP party.
