A brawl sparked among female lawmakers in the Turkish parliament on Wednesday during the second and final round of debates over a series of controversial constitutional amendments that would expand presidential powers.
The brawl started after independent Member of Parliament Aylin Nazliaka handcuffed herself to a microphone and refused to leave the podium claiming that, as an independent lawmaker, she was not given a voice and in her protest called on other female members of the opposition to support her, Anadolu reported.
The chair attempted to diffuse the situation during a short recess and after an additional 45-minute break, members from the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) moved towards the podium as pro-Kurdish party Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) members surrounded Nazliaka in support.
During the recess, a group of female legislators failed to convince Nazliaka to end her protest. One legislator proceeded to unscrew the microphone leading to a row between women from the ruling party and the opposition.
One lawmaker with the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was hospitalized after she reportedly lost her prosthetic arm in the fracas.
Lawmakers are debating an 18-article constitutional reform package -- put forward by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP -- that would turn Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential one, effectively consolidating the power of three legislative bodies into one executive branch.
The reforms would also abolish the role of prime minister while granting authority to the president to issue law, declare states of emergency, dismiss parliament and to appoint ministers, public officials and half of the senior judges.