Turkish MPs brawl during debate on jailed opposition lawmaker

A brawl broke out in Turkiye’s parliament on Friday after lawmakers convened to discuss the status of a jailed opposition figure controversially stripped of his parliamentary immunity earlier this year.

They were meeting after the country’s constitutional court struck down parliament’s decision to oust Can Atalay from his parliamentary seat earlier this month.

Lawyer and rights activist Atalay was deprived of his seat in January following an ill-tempered parliamentary session, despite efforts by fellow leftist deputies to halt the proceedings.

He was one of seven defendants sentenced in 2022 to 18 years in prison following a controversial trial that also saw the award-winning philanthropist Osman Kavala jailed for life.

From prison, 48-year-old Atalay ran for a seat in parliament representing the earthquake-ravaged Hatay province in last May’s general election.

He was elected as a member of the leftist Workers’ Party of Turkiye, or TIP, which has three parliamentary seats.

However, that election win led to a legal standoff between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters and opposition leaders, who pushed Turkiye to the verge of a constitutional crisis last year.

Parliament’s decision in January to oust Atalay came after the Supreme Court of Appeals ruling that upheld his conviction, clearing the way for the move to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.

But on Aug. 1, the constitutional court — a body reviewing whether judges’ rulings comply with Turkiye’s fundamental law — published its verdict on the case.

It ruled Atalay’s ouster as a member of parliament was “null and void.”

On Friday, TIP deputy Ahmet Sik defended Atalay against the attacks on him by ruling party lawmakers.
“It’s no surprise that you call Atalay a terrorist,” he said.

“All citizens should know that the biggest terrorists of this country are those seated on those benches,” he said, indicating the ruling majority.

That comment drew angry responses from ruling party lawmakers, prompting the chairman to call a break.

Scuffles broke out after former footballer Alpay Ozalan, a lawmaker from Erdogan’s ruling AKP party, walked to the rostrum and shoved Sik to the ground, said an AFP journalist in parliament.

Another opposition MP was injured when she tried to calm the session.

Footage online showed the brawl and staff cleaning blood stains from the parliament floor afterward.

Turkiye’s parliament has previously voted to lift immunity from prosecution of opposition politicians — many of them Kurds — who the government views as “terrorists.”