Photo Credit: REUTERS
Turkish Member of Parliament, Hasan Bitmez who slumped to the floor on Tuesday after reportedly suffering a heart attack during a plenary session has been confirmed dead.
Hasan Bitmez, aged 54, a member of parliament from the opposition Felicity (Saadet) Party, died in Ankara City Hospital.
His death was announced by the country’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, Reuters reports.
Bitmez graduated from Cairo's Al Azhar University and served as the chairman of the Centre for Islamic Union Research and had previously worked for Islamic non-governmental organisations.
He was married and was a father of one.
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.
Fellow members of the parliament quickly rushed to his side.
Time of Israel quoted Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca as saying Bitmez was hospitalised and his condition was “extremely critical and serious.”
Before his death, Bitmez was a popular critic of President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) over Turkey's ongoing trade with Israel despite the war in Gaza, and despite the government's sharp rhetorical criticism of Israel's military bombardment.
"You allow ships to go to Israel and you shamelessly call it trade... You are Israel's accomplice," Bitmez said in his speech after placing a banner on the podium reading: "Murderer Israel; collaborator AKP".
"You have the blood of Palestinians on your hands, you are collaborators. You contribute to every bomb Israel drops on Gaza," he told lawmakers during a debate over the foreign ministry's 2024 budget.
After finishing the speech, Bitmez suddenly fell backwards on the floor, with other MPs rushing from their seats to help.