12.02.2026 08:10
During the oath-taking ceremony of the Interior and Justice Ministers in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, AK Party member Osman Gökçek, who was involved in a fistfight, described the events. Gökçek stated, "We are not supporters of violence, but please forgive me, when you slap someone on the right cheek, no one waits for you to say 'come slap my left cheek.' They all attacked me alone, as seen in the footage, and we gave them the response they deserved and sent them home."
Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi and Justice Minister Akın Gürlek were involved in a fistfight during the oath-taking ceremony held in the Parliament. AK Party Ankara Deputy Osman Gökçek, who was involved in the fistfight, described the events that took place in the Parliament.
After the cabinet reshuffle, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi and Justice Minister Akın Gürlek took their oaths during a ceremony held in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). However, a fistfight broke out between AK Party and CHP deputies during the oath-taking ceremony.
PROTEST TURNED INTO A FIGHT
During the ceremony, CHP deputies occupied the podium and started a protest. As the protest escalated, a verbal dispute occurred in the General Assembly, followed by a fistfight, resulting in CHP member Mahmut Tanal's nose bleeding. After the scuffle, the Speaker of the Parliament suspended the session for 10 minutes.
OSMAN GÖKÇEK DESCRIBED THE EVENTS
AK Party Ankara Deputy Osman Gökçek participated in the program "Equal Weight with Erdoğan Aktaş" broadcasted on tv100 and made evaluations regarding the events in the Parliament. Gökçek stated, "There is a tendency towards violence in the CHP. We are not supporters of violence, but please forgive me, when you slap someone on the right cheek, no one waits for you to say 'come slap my left cheek.' They all attack me alone, it is visible in the footage, we gave the necessary response to all of them and sent them home."
"THEY APPROACHED AS IF TO ATTACK"
Gökçek described the events in the Parliament with the following words:
"I am very well. I have no problems. Initially, while Mr. Akın Gürlek was sitting in the back where the ministers sit, they suddenly wanted to occupy the podium. Later, when they wanted to occupy the podium, I headed towards where Akın Bey was. I waited there. Because the members of the Republican People's Party suddenly stood up and started to approach as if they were going to commit violence. After that, they immediately took our Minister from behind and brought him to the podium. When the others came towards the podium, they quickly moved our Minister to a safe area on the far right."
"IF THERE IS NO ATTACK."
"Under normal circumstances, when a speaker is talking in the TBMM, you can shout from your place or go outside to protest. Sometimes people bang on the table. However, if there is not going to be a physical attack, I think there should be no issue of approaching someone. We have experienced this before in the Parliament. In the Plan and Budget Commission, Ali Yerlikaya was blocked. Mr. Varank was blocked. They caused incidents there as well. Sometimes they storm the courtrooms. They have unfortunately had such notes in their records because they have done these actions before."
"THEY STARTED TO ATTACK"
"Again, when it was like this, they started to attack. Some threw very thick books at our Minister. Later, when Tanal and the deputies behind him came running in a serious attack position, I intervened to push them back. After I hit Tanal once, the other deputy next to him tried to attack me with a punch. We handled that as well. After that, we pushed them back. We have the right granted to us by the Constitution. There is an elected President of the Republic of Turkey, an elected ruling party. We are here to intervene when we see that they are running towards a minister who is taking an oath at the podium, instead of protesting from their seats."
"I HAVE NO REGRETS"
"If they do the same thing again, I will not hesitate to do this action. I have no regrets about anything I did. If you occupy the podium of a minister appointed by the elected President of the Republic of Turkey and try to attack him, we will of course engage in such an act to exercise our democratic right. Therefore, I have no regrets at all.
Why did nearly 40 deputies, nearly 50 deputies, from the Republican People's Party not leave their seats and wait there? While they are waiting there, if they are running towards there, should we wait thinking they might be bringing flowers to our Minister? He himself is getting involved in such an incident. Sometimes they attack the police. Sometimes they storm the courtrooms. These are already the biggest indicators that they are trying to establish a mafia order and are against these issues concerning the Constitution of Turkey.
"THERE IS A TENDENCY TOWARDS VIOLENCE IN CHP"
"The CHP should not interfere with our right to speak and take an oath at the podium, believing in democracy and the Constitution in Turkey. Two weeks ago, during the meeting regarding our retired citizens, they wanted to bring a coffin. We said, 'You cannot bring a coffin, this is against the internal regulations,' and they barged in kicking and punching. There is a tendency towards violence in the CHP in this sense. We are not supporters of violence, but please forgive me, when you slap someone on the right cheek, no one waits for you to say 'come slap my left cheek.'
They are all attacking me alone, it is visible in the images, we gave them the response they needed and sent them home. "