Turkish Cypriot ‘MPs’ throw order papers at each other in dairy debate
Two Turkish Cypriot ‘MPs’ threw order papers at each other in ‘parliament’ on Monday as tensions rose in a debate over a budget for the Cyprus Turkish Dairy Industry Institution (Sutek)’s budget.
An increasingly heated back and forth had taken place between ‘MPs’ from opposition party CTP and those from the ‘government’ regarding debts incurred by Sutek over the last few years.
CTP ‘MP’ Erkut Sahali insisted there was 20 million TL (€666,100) missing from Sutek’s budget, while ‘finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova disagreed.
As ‘parliament’ descended into an argument at the end of Sahali’s speech at the podium, he shouted, “take this, make a budget!” and threw his order paper at Berova. His throw fell slightly short, landing on the desk of ‘interior minister’ Dursun Oguz.
Berova took the order papers and threw them back in Sahali’s direction, and they landed on the floor in front of the podium.
A full-blown argument broke out, with ‘speaker’ Zorlu Tore calling in vain for order.
As things began to calm down, the papers were picked up off the floor by ‘environment minister’ Fikri Ataoglu.
Sutek is a semi-‘state’ institution which collects and distributes raw milk for the production of halloumi and other dairy products.