A Turkish lawmaker, who collapsed two days ago while giving a speech in parliament saying Israel would ‘suffer the wrath of Allah’ for invading Gaza, is dead.
Hasan Bitmez, 53, a member of parliament from the opposition Felicity (Saadet) Party, died in Ankara City Hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters in televised remarks.
Bitmez was seen in a viral video speaking against Israel for invading Gaza on the floor of the General Assembly Hall in Ankara. The next moment, he fell to the ground, prompting other parliamentarians to intervene immediately.
He had concluded his speech, by saying, “We can perhaps hide from our conscience but not from history,’ stating that ‘Israel will suffer the wrath of Allah”, as reported by the Times of Israel.
At that moment, he stumbled and dropped to his knees before lying flat on his back. The Saadet Party Kocaeli Deputy had to be stretchered out of the hall after receiving chest compressions ‘for a long time’, Turkish media reports.
Turhan Çömez, a deputy from the Kemalist İYİ Party and a trained doctor, was reportedly the first to help his political rival.
The politician was taken to the Bilkent City Hospital in Ankara where he underwent treatment in the intensive care unit while in a critical condition.
Koca said on Tuesday that an angiography revealed that the two main veins in his heart were completely blocked.
‘His heart stopped beating, then he was resuscitated in parliament and transferred within 20 minutes to hospital’ where medical machinery kept him alive, Koca had said on Tuesday.
But Koca revealed that Bitmez died today – two days after he suffered the heart attack.
