A fight erupted in Turkey’s parliament over Ankara's military action in Syria, which has divided opinion domestically.

Chaos broke loose after a vocal critic of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the intervention took to the stand during a tense discussion about the country’s involvement in neighbouring Idlib province in Syria.

Video footage of the brawl shows members of parliament shoving each other and standing up on desks.

Dozens joined in with the scrap between opposition parties on Wednesday, which saw some politicians throwing punches while others tried to put an end to the fight.

The clash on Wednesday started when Engin Ozkoc, a member of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), went up to make a speech.

Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Show all 20 1 /20 Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Foreign prisoners, suspected of being part of the Islamic State, lie in a prison cell in Hasaka Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A guard opens a door inside a prison Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A boy looks out from inside a tent in al-Roj camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Foreign prisoners lie inside a prison hospital Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A child born to a Yazidi former slave mother and an Islamic State fighter cries at a children's protection house in Rimelan Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A foreign prisoner with a bandage wrapped around his head Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Children hold onto water containers in al-Hol camp, Syria Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A Kurdish official shows the passports of captured foreign Islamic State fighters for a photo in Rimelan, Syria Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Light shines onto the face of a prisoner Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Prisoners from Iraq and Syria, suspected of being part of the Islamic State, sit inside a prison cell in Hasaka, Syria Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A foreign prisoner lies on top of an examining table next to a doctor inside a prison in Hasaka Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A boy stands inside al-Roj camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Women walk past a tent in al-Hol camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Alija Keserovic, a prisoner from Bosnia and Herzegovina Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A child is held by a woman inside a shop in al-Hol camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Foreign prisoners pray inside a prison hospital Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Prisoners from Iraq and Syria spend time in a prison's outside grounds Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Abed El-Hamed Atiya, an Iraqi prisoner sits next to a picture he drew inside a prison in Hasaka. Atiya is kept apart from other prisoners, some of whom strongly object to his art Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters A woman holds hands with a child while walking through al-Hol camp Reuters Inside Syria's cramped and dark prisons for Isis fighters Prisoners suspected of being part of the Islamic State Reuters

During a news conference shortly before, Mr Ozkoc called the Turkey’s president ”dishonourable, ignoble, low and treacherous”.

He also accused Mr Erdogan of sending Turkey's youth to fight while his own children allegedly avoided long-term military service, as well as claiming the president had irresponsibly sent troops into a conflict without air cover.

During a speech to members of his party, Mr Erdogan had previously accused the opposition of being “dishonourable, ignoble, low and treacherous” for questioning Turkey’s military action in Syria’s northwest province.

Tensions are running high following the deaths of more than 50 Turkish soldiers in Idlib in the past month, including 33 who were killed in an attack last Thursday.

Turkey has sent thousands of troops to Syria to help prevent a Russia-backed Syrian government offensive to retake Idlib province and to support Syrian opposition fighters holed up there since October.

The main opposition party – to which Mr Ozkoc belongs – has questioned the president’s approach to war-torn Syria in the past and said they wanted to see negotiations with the regime.

“The ruling party has made Turkey one of the primary responsible parties of the destructive war in Syria through the wrong policies insistently pursued since 2011 despite all the warnings,” the People’s Republican Party said last year.

“AKP administrations have made their choices in favour of war rather than peace, leading to prolonged conflicts and continued deferral of peace.”

Wednesday’s fight is not the first time politicians have clashed in the Turkish parliament, which has seen several scraps over the past few years.

In 2016, MPs turned on each other during a debate over whether their immunity from prosecution should be lifted.

A year later, a politician handcuffed herself to the rostrum to protest against proposals to give Mr Erdogan more power, which ended up in a scuffle between politicians.