Brawl erupts at Turkey's parliament over jailed MP, 2 lawmakers injured
The scuffle took place after lawmakers convened to discuss the status of a jailed opposition figure controversially stripped of his parliamentary immunity earlier this year.
ANKARA — A fistfight broke out at the Turkish Parliament on Friday, injuring at least two lawmakers during a heated debate over opposition lawmaker Can Atalay’s removal from office and his ongoing imprisonment.
The parliament revoked Atalay’s parliamentarian status in January with support of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) members and their nationalist allies, defying multiple rulings by the Constitutional Court — the country’s highest — rejecting his ouster from the parliament.
After the court released its opinion this month, the opposition parties called on the parliament to pause its summer break for an extraordinary session to discuss his situation and urge his release.
Atalay has been behind bars since April 2022 along with five other co-defendants, including prominent Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala. They were convicted of attempting to overthrow the government for their involvement in the nationwide 2013 Gezi protests. The defendants denied all charges linked to the Gezi protests, which began as an environmental demonstration in central Istanbul and evolved into the largest popular uprising ever against Erdogan’s rule.
On Friday, footage from the parliament showed AKP lawmaker Alpay Ozalan approaching the podium as Ahmet Sik, a lawmaker from the leftist Turkey Workers Party, was addressing the floor. A scuffle between the two turned into a violent brawl as other opposition and governing coalition lawmakers approached.
Kavganın başladığı anların en net görüntüsü. pic.twitter.com/RgeNcvnVju
— Emrullah Erdinc (@emrullaherdinc) August 16, 2024
Opposition lawmakers Gulistan Kocyigit and Okan Konuralp were injured in the scuffle as they were trying to break up the fight, Turkey’s private Haberturk television and several other outlets reported.
Bekir Bozdag, the deputy speaker of the parliament who was overseeing the debate, ordered the session delayed to lower the tensions.
Another video circulated on social media showing numerous drops of blood where the brawl erupted.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, called for an emergency meeting afterward with the heads of political parties represented in the parliament.
“It happened right in front of our eyes. They even hit women,” he told reporters after the episode. “I am incredibly ashamed.”
The floor was later convened by the Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus.
TBMM kan içinde. Hukuk düzenini yok sayanlar, hayvanlar için katliam yasası çıkaranlar şimdi de milletvekili kanı döküyorlar. Utanç verici ama şaşırtıcı değil maalesef. pic.twitter.com/qYqr5VJ5c1
— Serhat Uçak (@serhatucak) August 16, 2024
The lawmakers then voted to censure both Ozalan and Sik. Before he was attacked by Ozalan, Sik had labeled the AKP and the government as “the biggest terrorist organization.”
Atalay, a lawyer and human rights activist, was elected to parliament in the May 2023 general elections while in prison. Turkey’s Constitutional Court ordered his release on the grounds that his imprisonment was a violation of his right to hold office and other freedoms.
In November, Turkey’s Court of Cassation announced that it would not abide by the decision of the Constitutional Court, accusing the country’s top court of violating the constitution.
It also ordered the parliament to strip Atalay of his status. Reviewing the case again at the request of Atalay’s lawyers, the Constitutional Court once again ruled for his release in December. Yet the Court of Cassation again refused to abide by the decision. In January, Atalay was stripped of his parliamentarian status by the votes of the AKP lawmakers and their nationalist allies, who hold a majority.
Several civic groups including Amnesty International slammed Atalay’s ongoing imprisonment and removal from office as unlawful. Europe’s top human rights court, civic groups and Western capitals condemned the charges as specious.
Government critics and international bodies have long criticized the erosion of judicial independence and rule of law in Turkey, particularly since the country’s transition to an executive presidential system under Erdogan in 2018.
