Dozens of lawmakers became embroiled in a fisticuffs brawl in Turkey’s parliament Friday as they argued over a jailed opposition deputy stripped of his parliamentary immunity this year.
The 30-minute ruckus, which left at least two lawmakers injured, forced the suspension of the hearing. Deputies eventually returned for a vote that rejected an opposition move to restore the parliamentary mandate of lawyer and rights activist Can Atalay.
Atalay won his seat in an election last year after campaigning from his prison cell.
The parliamentary turmoil erupted after ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) member Alpay Ozalan launched into Ahmet Sik, a member of the leftist Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) who had condemned the government’s treatment of Atalay.
“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 added, indicating the ruling majority.
Ozalan, a former footballer, walked to the rostrum and shoved Sik to the ground, said an AFP journalist in parliament.
Whilst on the ground, Sik was punched several times by AKP lawmakers. Dozens of lawmakers joined the fight.
Footage posted online showed the brawl and then staff cleaning blood stains from the parliament floor. A deputy from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and one from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) party suffered head injuries.
Ozgur Ozel, head of the main opposition CHP party, denounced the violence.
“I am ashamed to have witnessed this situation,” he added.
The parliament speaker said the two deputies at the origin of the brawl would be sanctioned.
Atalay was deprived of his seat following an ill-tempered parliamentary session in January, despite efforts by fellow leftist deputies to halt the proceedings.
He is 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, Atalay, 48, campaigned for a parliament seat for the earthquake-ravaged Hatay province in a May 2023 election.
He was elected as a member for the leftist TIP, which has three seats in the parliament.
The win led to a legal standoff between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters and opposition leaders that pushed Turkey to the verge of a constitutional crisis last year.
Parliament’s decision in January to oust Atalay came after a ruling by the supreme court of appeals that upheld his conviction, clearing the way for the move to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.
But on August 1, the constitutional court – which reviews whether judges’ rulings comply with Turkey’s basic law – said that Atalay’s removal as a member of parliament was “null and void”.
AKP and far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputies joined forces to defeat the opposition motion on Friday.
Turkey’s parliament has previously voted to lift immunity from prosecution of opposition politicians – many of them Kurds – who the government views as “terrorists”.
