Felicity Party (Saadet) Deputy Hasan Bitmez (C) delivers a speech on the 2024 Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Internal Affairs budget shortly before collapsing at the podium, in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) in Ankara on Dec. 12, 2023. (Credit: Adem Altan/AFP)
An opposition Turkish lawmaker died on Thursday two days after suffering a heart attack and collapsing in front of parliament as he finished a speech criticizing the government's policy toward Israel.
Hasan Bitmez, 54, a member of parliament from the opposition Felicity (Saadet) Party, died in Ankara City Hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said told reporters.
A graduate of Cairo's Al Azhar University, Bitmez was the chairman of the Centre for Islamic Union Research and had previously worked for Islamic non-governmental organizations, his parliament biography shows.
He was married and a father of one.
Parliament's official broadcast showed Bitmez collapsing to the floor after having been standing at the podium before the general assembly on Tuesday.
He had been criticizing 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.