Turkish parliament debate turns into fistfight
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MP Alpay Ozalan of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) attacked MP Ahmet Sik of the socialist Workers' Party of Türkiye (TIP) for criticizing the government's handling of the issue of MP Can Atalay, causing parliamentary uproar.
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An image of the brawl that broke out in the Turkish Parliament on August 16, 2024. (AFP)
On Friday, dozens of politicians got into a fistfight in Turkiye's parliament over a detained opposition member who was deprived of his parliamentary immunity earlier this year.
The session was suspended after a 30-minute scuffle that wounded at least two MPs. Deputies ultimately returned for a vote, which rejected an opposition bid to reinstate lawyer Can Atalay's parliamentary mandate.
Atalay won his seat in an election last year by campaigning from his jail cell.
Alpay Ozalan of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) attacked Ahmet Sik of the socialist Workers' Party of Turkiye (TIP) for criticizing the government's handling of Atalay, causing parliamentary uproar.
“It’s no surprise that you call Atalay a terrorist,” Sik stated, adding, “All citizens should know that the biggest terrorists of this country are those seated on those benches," hinting to the majority.
According to an AFP journalist, Ozalan, a former footballer, approached the rostrum and threw Sik to the ground.
🇹🇷| A brawl broke out in the Turkish parliament, an AKP MP attacked an MP from the Workers' Party of Turkey after grabbing him by the neck. pic.twitter.com/GYjtTWAjn5
— Eternal Glory (@EternalGlory0) August 16, 2024
Sik received many punches from AKP legislators while on the ground as dozens joined to throw punches.
Washing blood stains from the floor
Footage uploaded online shows the incident, followed by personnel washing blood stains from the parliament floor. A deputy from the Republican People's Party (CHP) and another from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) party were injured in the head.
Ozgur Ozel, the chairman of the major opposition CHP, condemned the violence, saying he was "ashamed" to have witnessed it.
The parliamentary speaker stated that the two MPs who started the incident will face sanctions.
Atalay was removed from his position during an acrimonious parliamentary session in January, despite pleas by other members to postpone the proceedings.
He is one of seven convicts condemned to 18 years in prison in 2022 after a contentious trial that also resulted in the life sentence of award-winning philanthropist Osman Kavala.
Atalay, 48, ran for a parliamentary seat in the earthquake-ravaged Hatay province in the May 2023 election from prison, and was elected as member of the leftist TIP, which has three parliament seats.
Last year, a judicial impasse between supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition leaders threatened Turkiye's constitutional order.
Parliament's decision to remove Atalay in January followed a verdict by the Supreme Court of Appeal that affirmed his conviction, paving the door for the removal of his parliamentary immunity.
However, on August 1, the constitutional court, which assesses whether judges' verdicts fit with Turkish basic law, declared Atalay's expulsion as a member of parliament "null and void."
