Turkish MP who suffered heart attack during speech dies

Turkey's opposition lawmaker Hasan Bitmez died on Thursday (Dec 14), two days after he collapsed and suffered a heart attack in front of parliament after finishing his speech in which he criticised the policy of the government towards Israel.The 54-year-old Bitmez, a member of parliament from the opposition Felicity (Saadet) Party, breathed his last in Ankara City Hospital, said Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, while speaking to reporters in televised remarks.

Bitmez had graduated from Cairo's Al Azhar University and was the chairman of the Centre for Islamic Union Research. Previously, he had worked for Islamic non-governmental organisations, as per his parliament biography. MP Bitmez was married and had a child. In the official broadcast of the Parliament, Bitmez was seen collapsing to the floor after continuously standing at the podium, while facing the general assembly on Tuesday (Dec 12). The MP was critical of President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) over the ongoing trade of Turkey with Israel even though the latter had been engaged in a war with Gaza, and sharp rhetorical criticism made by the Turkish government over the military bombardment of Israel.