A fistfight broke out in Turkey’s parliament late Sunday as lawmakers debated the 2026 government budget, which was ultimately approved after a chaotic session marked by physical clashes between ruling party and opposition lawmakers.
The Turkish Parliament approved the 2026 Central Government Budget by a vote of 320 to 249. The 2024 final accounts bill was also passed, with 316 votes in favor and 247 against.
Video footage and eyewitness accounts showed lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) punching and pushing each other on the floor of the general assembly. The brawl lasted about 10 minutes and continued intermittently during a recess.
‼️TBMM’DE YUMRUKLU KAVGA pic.twitter.com/Qjzzu4f2Hd
— Mahir KILIÇ (@mahirkilicc) December 21, 2025
The violence erupted on the final day of budget talks following a series of heated exchanges between AKP and CHP lawmakers.
Tensions rose after AKP lawmaker Mustafa Varank criticized CHP leader Özgür Özel and accused municipalities run by the opposition of failing to fulfill campaign pledges.
Varank also referred to past images of Özel at a memorial for former lawmaker Kamer Genç that showed him and others drinking at Genç’s grave, remarks that drew loud protests from CHP lawmakers.
Gökhan Günaydın, one of the CHP deputy group chairs, responded with a speech accusing the government of slander of opposition municipalities and challenging the ruling party to support transparency measures, including broadcasting corruption trials and disclosing politicians’ assets.
The CHP has been under a harsh crackdown for more than a year that saw the arrest of at lest 15 mayors and hundreds of party officials including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
İmamoğlu, the most powerful political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who was named his party’s presidential candidate in March, was arrested in the same month as part of a corruption investigation targeting the İstanbul Municipality.
The CHP claims investigations of its mayors and officials are politically motivated in an attempt to discredit the party, which emerged as the most successful contender in the local elections held last year, in the eyes of the public.
According to a recent CHP report, which details the ongoing crackdown on the party, 16 CHP mayors have been jailed, and trustees have been appointed to 13 municipalities, including İstanbul’s Esenyurt and Şişli districts, since the crackdown on the party began in October 2024.
Günaydın also defended the CHP’s historical legacy, saying criticism of Turkey’s single-party era amounted to attacks on the republic’s founding principles and its first leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Tensions escalated further after AKP group chair Abdullah Güler spoke about the early republican period, referring to Atatürk and his successor, İsmet İnönü. His remarks prompted angry reactions from CHP lawmakers.
As Ali Mahir Başarır, another CHP deputy group chair, stood up to protest, verbal arguments turned into shoving and then punches, with dozens of lawmakers from both parties joining the melee in the center of the chamber. Security personnel and other lawmakers struggled to separate those involved.
CHP leader Özel and far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli were present in the general assembly during the clash but did not intervene.
Physical confrontations are not uncommon in Turkey’s parliament, where deeply polarized politics have frequently spilled over into violence during contentious debates.