Turkey MPs Brawl over 'Kurdistan'

A fracas erupted in Turkey's parliament on Monday between nationalist and pro-Kurdish lawmakers over the use of "Kurdistan," long a taboo word in the country.

Lawmakers from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a motion demanding that the word "Kurdistan" be removed from the parliamentary minutes when referring to Iraq's autonomous northern region.

The move met an angry response from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), with lawmaker Hasip Kaplan declaring: "Kurdistan, Kurds and the Kurdish language do exist."

The war of words turned nasty when another BDP lawmaker attempted to punch a nationalist rival and MPs were drawn into the scuffle as they tried to separate the two.

Turkey has long refused to use the word "Kurdistan" and instead referred to the autonomous administration in northern Iraq as the Kurdish Regional Government, fearing that it could inspire its own Kurds in their struggle for a homeland.

However, Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan have enjoyed burgeoning ties in recent years especially in the field of energy.

Last month, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the word "Kurdistan" for the first time when Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani visited the Kurdish-dominated city of Diyarbakir.