A Turkish opposition legislator who suffered a heart attack and collapsed in parliament during a speech against the government’s policy towards Israel has died.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the country’s Health Minister, Fahrettin Koca disclosed on Friday that Hasan Bitmez, a 54-year-old member of the Islamist Saadet Partisi, had died in an Ankara hospital two days after the incident.
In a video posted by Visegrad 24 on Tuesday, Bitmez was seen slumping to the floor shortly after he attacked the Israeli government for its ongoing attack in Gaza.
The opposition figure, who was married and a father of one, graduated from Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, worked for Islamic nongovernmental groups and was chairman of the Centre for Islamic Union Research.
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He accused the Turkish government of continuing friendly economic relations with Israel during its assault on Gaza, which has killed nearly 19,000 Palestinians.
“You allow ships to go to Israel, and you shamelessly call it trade. You are Israel’s accomplice,” Bitmez said in his speech targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Tuesday after placing a poster on the podium reading: “Murderer Israel, collaborator AKP.”
“Even if you escape the torment of history, you will not be able to escape the wrath of God,” he said at the end of the 20-minute speech before collapsing at the lectern.
