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Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
The Parliament has approved setting up an inquiry commission into the graft allegations on the former ministers with 453 votes for the probe and nine against it after yet another heated session that lasted 16 hours. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
The session was also marked by a row on the absence of any live television coverage of the proceedings. The ruling AKP's choice of holding the graft session on May 5, Monday – the only weekday on which the Parliament’s live television channel, Meclis TV, does not broadcast – infuriated the opposition parties, triggering lengthy discussions. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
To by-pass the decision, CHP deputy Melda Onur aired her own live streaming of the parliamentary debate online on UStream. Onur, who attracted over 70,000 viewers by broadcasting a previous session on the graft allegations held on March 19, bemoaned that parliamentary speaker Cemil Çiçek did not intervene and air the debates on national TV. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Opposition lawmakers protested Bağış by turning him their backs during his address. AA Photo / Dilek Mermer
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
The former ministers facing corruption charges have for the first time answered to the accusations against them from the Parliament’s pulpit during the critical session, which was delayed due to the recess for the March 30 local elections. AA Photo / Dilek Mermer
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Bağış and Çağlayan talk during the session as debates intensify. AA Photo / Murat Kaynak
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Bağış, replaced by Erdoğan as part of a major Cabinet reshuffle on Dec 25, slammed the investigation as a 'dirty plot' against the government. AP Photo / Burhan Özbilici
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
All four ex-members of the Cabinet have denied any wrongdoing, as three of them individually took the floor for a speech limited to 10 minutes. AP Photo / Burhan Özbilici
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Çağlayan, who was the first to respond to the accusations, said they were all facing 'huge lies and slander.' AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Çağlayan also rejected claims that he performed the Umra, travelling to Mecca, with his family on Zarrab’s private plane. AFP Photo /Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
'Ministers cannot be considered suspects and prosecutors are not competent enough to carry out an investigation on them,' Güler said. AP Photo / Burhan Özbilici
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
For his part, Güler accused prosecutors and judges conducting the investigation of breaching the law by prosecuting ministers. AP Photo / Burhan Özbilici
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
The main opposition CHP had filed four separate motions for an inquiry into former Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan, former EU Minister Egemen Bağış, former Interior Minister Muammer Güler and former Urbanization and Environment Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar. The ruling AKP filed a single motion for an inquiry into the four, which was eventually adopted after the four of the CHP’s motions were rejected. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Bayraktar (L), who reportedly was unable to hold back his tears during a meeting with the AKP lawmakers early in the afternoon, choose not to make an address. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
'These claims reveal an effort to exploit the Turkish people’s religious sensitivity,' he said. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Touching upon claims about being bribed by the Iran-born Azeri businessman Reza Zarrab – the main suspect of the graft investigation – with a watch worth 700,000 Turkish Liras, Çağlayan assured that he had paid the entire sum himself. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Scuffles also broke out between AKP and CHP deputies. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
But the AKP's deputy parliamentary head Nurettin Canikli denied the allegations of censorship and said the TRT was just following the protocol signed with Parliament. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
At times, an argument between two deputies grew into a larger row involving a dozen of lawmakers. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Before this year's recess, the General Assembly chamber got a makeover with the intention of alleviating the predominant atmosphere of constant tension and aggression. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
An internal report published in last May, determined the color of the seats as the main cause of the lack of basic courtesy and high tensions that frequently flared up in the General Assembly chamber. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
As a result the vivid orange color of the seats were dulled and dimmer lighting arrangement was set up. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
The commission is also expected to give a break to its work due to upcoming presidential elections in August and restart work in October. AA Photo / Murat Kaynak
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
The voting was eventually held after hours of heated debates. AA Photo / Murat Kaynak
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Bağış casts his vote during a ballot at Parliament for the establishment of an inquiry commission against him and three other ex-ministers. AA Photo / Murat Kaynak
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Bağış was eventually restrained by colleagues as he engaged in a verbal row. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Those measures seem not have much effect as the pictures shows AKP lawmaker Metin Külünk lunging at opposition lawmakers. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
A tense row broke out between Bağış and an opposition lawmaker during the session. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Bağıl also assured lawmakers in a defiant speech that none of the accused ex-ministers would hide behind their parliamentary immunity. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Former Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan(C), former EU Egemen Bağış (L), and former Environment Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar(R) - three of the four former cabinet-members who face investigation on corruption allegations - take part in the parliamentary debate focusing on claims against them in Ankara, May 5, 2014. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
After it finalizes its work, the secret voting on whether the four will be sent to the Supreme Council will be held at the General Assembly. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Çağlayan, Güler and Bayraktar resigned days after the eruption of the huge corruption scandal on Dec. 17, 2013, when the police detained their sons and businessmen close to PM Erdoğan. Bağış was replaced by Erdoğan as part of a major Cabinet reshuffle on Dec 25. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
Turkish MPs as gentle and courteous as ever during corruption session
Earlier, both MHP deputy parliamentary group head Oktay Vural and CHP deputy leader Gürsel Tekin denounced the refusal of their requests to TRT as censorship. AFP Photo / Adem Altan
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