Turkish opposition fails to regain seats of ousted MPs in violence-scarred session

An extraordinary session of Turkey’s parliament on Friday that descended into a brawl between government and opposition members produced no favorable results for a jailed politician who was expelled from the legislature after a bid to reinstate his seat failed.

Lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has the majority in parliament, overwhelmingly rejected an opposition request to hold a general meeting to discuss reinstating the seat of Can Atalay, who was elected to parliament for the leftist Workers’ Party of Turkey (TP) in the May 2023 general election.

The extraordinary session ended without discussing the situation in Atalay.

Atalay is serving an 18-year prison sentence upheld last year by the country’s highest appeals court after he was convicted in the Gezi Park trial, widely seen as politically motivated over anti-government protests in 2013.

Despite two Constitutional Court rulings in his favour, he has still not been released from prison and was stripped of his seat in parliament earlier this year.

Friday’s extraordinary session, called by the opposition, was marred by a violent brawl that broke out when AKP MP Alpay Zalan attacked TP MP Ahmet K as he gave a speech at the start of the session condemning the government for its treatment of Atalay.

Two opposition members who tried to calm down other MPs and exchanged blows were injured.

Video footage from inside parliament shows blood on the floor from injured MPs who suffered cuts to their foreheads.

In his speech, K accused AKP MPs of being members of Turkey’s largest terrorist organization that brought down the state with its dynastic mafia, referring to the terrorist description that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used for Atalay.

He said it is not surprising that the AKP and its leader label Atalay a terrorist, as they do so to everyone who is not a member of their party.

Subsequently, the Chairman’s Office imposed sanctions on Zalan for his attack on K and K for his accusations against AKP MPs.

The attack on K and the battle in parliament were strongly condemned by opposition parties, who called it an attack on the public will.

Extraordinary session

The extraordinary session of the Legislative Assembly was convened to review Atalay’s parliamentary status after the Constitutional Court annulled the revocation of his status in early August, sparking renewed calls for his immediate release and reinstatement.

A legal crisis erupted when the Supreme Court, which had upheld the politician’s conviction, refused to rule on his release last year, ignoring two Supreme Court rulings. For the first time in Turkey’s history, the appeals court also filed criminal charges against members of the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court ruled twice last year that Atalay’s rights to security and liberty, as well as his right to stand for election, had been violated.

In its reasoned opinion, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal’s decision not to enforce its judgments was not lawful.

According to the court, it is not legally possible to speak of a conviction of Atalay after his verdict of October 25, 2023 and it is constitutionally required to eliminate the circumstances that led to the violation of rights.

The Court held that a decision deemed to be contrary to the Constitution had no legal force.

Following the Constitutional Court ruling, Atalays’ lawyers have called for his release, arguing that his rights to liberty and security, as well as his right to run for office, have been violated. Opposition parties, including the CHP and others, have called on parliament to take swift action to restore his status.

If the court’s ruling had been read out during the hearing, the process to restore Atalay’s parliamentary seat could have begun.

Atalay was stripped of his parliamentary status in January after the Supreme Court of Appeals decision upholding his 18-year prison sentence was read out during a turbulent plenary session in parliament, with opposition members chanting angry slogans and attempting to disrupt proceedings.

Atalay, 48, managed to escape from prison and win a seat in parliament for the earthquake-hit Hatay province.

The suspects in the Gezi Park case, including Atalay and prominent businessman Osman Kavala, were convicted of attempting to overthrow the government for their alleged role in the protests, which began against an urban development plan in central Istanbul and spread to other cities in Turkey.

The youth-led protests have grown into a nationwide outcry against the AKP’s alleged corruption and the growing authoritarianism of then-Prime Minister and current President Erdoğan.

Erdogan’s government violently dispersed the protests and cracked down on their leaders.