The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in Ankara was overshadowed by two incidents on Thursday evening. The focus was always on the Ukrainian flag, with representatives of Ukraine and Russia getting carried away with skirmishes.
Videos in social networks document fisticuffs at the conference, which this time did not take place in Istanbul but in the Turkish capital. Against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the events are particularly explosive.
First, members of the Ukrainian delegation disrupted a speech by Olga Timofeeva, a deputy in the Russian State Duma. They rose from their seats and unfurled two large flags of their country behind the Russian delegation leader.
In addition, with heckling, they caused the situation to escalate further, like on a Video by Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency you can see.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, who chaired the PABSEC assembly, reacted indignantly and suspended the session. He then expelled the troublemakers from the hall. Immediately afterwards, the Ukrainians got into a scuffle with security guards and a suspected Russian delegate.
A short time later there was another physical altercation between the conflicting parties in the foyer – again Olga Timofeewa was disturbed there: When the Duma Vice-Chairman recorded a smartphone video, the Ukrainian delegate Oleksandr Marikovskyj ran up to the Russian, positioned himself behind her and presented a Ukrainian flag.
Videos of the disruptive action show how a Russian representative then snatched the blue and yellow flag from him. According to media reports, the man is the secretary of the Russian delegation, Valeri Stawitzky.
This was immediately followed by a scuffle between the two men, with the Ukrainian also punching the Russian in the face, according to the videos. Marikovskyj later posted a video of the incident himself, at the end of which he regained control of the flag. People who rushed to prevent further confrontation.
His Facebook post about the incident captioned Marikovskyj with the words: “paws off our flag, paws off Ukraine, Russian scum!”
The two-day event in Ankara was the 61st PABSEC General Assembly. The PABSEC aims to promote economic, political and cultural cooperation between the Black Sea countries.
