On Friday, Turkey’s parliament descended into chaos as a heated debate over a jailed opposition deputy, who had been stripped of his parliamentary immunity earlier this year, escalated into a physical brawl involving dozens of lawmakers.
The 30-minute clash, which resulted in at least two lawmakers being injured, led to the suspension of the session. Despite the disruption, the deputies later reconvened to vote down an opposition proposal to reinstate the parliamentary mandate of lawyer and human rights activist Can Atalay.
Atalay secured his parliamentary seat in an election last year, campaigning from his prison cell.
The confrontation in parliament began when Alpay Özalan, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), confronted Ahmet Şık, a representative of the leftist Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP). Şık had criticized the government’s treatment of Atalay, leading to a tense exchange.
“It’s no surprise that you label Atalay a terrorist,” Şık remarked.
He further stated, “All citizens should know that the real terrorists in this country are those sitting on those benches,” pointing towards the ruling party’s members.
In response, Özalan, a former football player, approached the podium and shoved Şık to the ground, according to a journalist from Agence France-Presse who was present in the parliament.
While on the ground, Şık was repeatedly punched by AKP lawmakers, and the altercation quickly escalated as dozens of legislators joined the fray.
Footage shared online showed the chaotic scene, including parliamentary staff cleaning up bloodstains from the floor. Two deputies, one from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and another from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) party, sustained head injuries during the incident.
Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition CHP, condemned the violence, expressing his shame at witnessing such a scene.
The parliamentary speaker announced that the two deputies responsible for initiating the brawl would face sanctions.
Atalay had been stripped of his seat following a contentious parliamentary session in January, despite efforts from his fellow leftist deputies to prevent the move.
He was one of seven individuals sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2022 after a controversial trial that also resulted in the life imprisonment of the award-winning philanthropist Osman Kavala.
Despite being incarcerated, Atalay, 48, ran for a parliamentary seat representing the earthquake-stricken Hatay province in the May 2023 election.
His election victory as a member of the leftist TIP, which holds three seats in parliament, led to a legal standoff between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s supporters and opposition leaders, nearly triggering a constitutional crisis last year.
In January, the parliament’s decision to remove Atalay followed a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeals that upheld his conviction, thereby allowing the move to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.
However, on August 1st, the constitutional court, which assesses the compliance of judicial rulings with Turkey’s basic law, declared that Atalay’s removal from parliament was “null and void.”
On Friday, deputies from the AKP and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party joined forces to defeat the opposition’s motion.
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Turkey’s parliament has previously voted to lift the immunity of opposition politicians, many of whom are Kurds, whom the government regards as “terrorists.”
