Dozens of lawmakers were involved in fist fights in Turkey’s parliament on Friday after arguing over opposition lawmakers who have been jailed and stripped of their parliamentary immunity this year.
At least two lawmakers were injured during the 30-minute riot, which forced the hearing to be halted, before lawmakers eventually reconvened to vote down an opposition bid to reinstate lawyer and human rights activist Can Ataray as a member of parliament.
Atalay won election last year after campaigning from prison.
Chaos erupted in parliament after Alpay Ozalan, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), blasted Ahmet Cik, a member of the Turkish Left Workers’ Party (TIP), for criticising the government’s treatment of Atalay.
“It is not surprising to call Atalay a terrorist,” Sikh said.
“Every citizen should know that the biggest terrorists in this country are those sitting in those seats,” he added, referring to the ruling majority.
Ozalan, a former football player, walked up to the podium and tackled Schick to the ground, an AFP reporter inside parliament said.
While on the ground, Sik was punched several times by AKP lawmakers, dozens of whom joined the melee.
Footage posted online showed the brawl and staff wiping bloodstains from the parliament floor, with one member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and one from the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) suffering head injuries.
Ozgur Ozer, leader of the main opposition CHP party, condemned the violence.
“I am ashamed to have witnessed such a situation,” he added.
The Speaker of Parliament said punishment would be meted out to the two lawmakers who started the brawl.
Atalay was stripped of his seat after a turbulent parliamentary session in January, despite efforts by left-leaning lawmakers to halt proceedings.
He is one of seven defendants sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2022 after a controversial trial in which award-winning philanthropist Osman Kavala was also sentenced to life.
From prison, Atalay, 48, campaigned for his seat in earthquake-hit Hatay province in the May 2023 elections.
He was elected as a member of the left-wing TIP party, which has three seats in parliament.
The victory sparked a legal battle between supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition leaders, bringing Turkey to the brink of a constitutional crisis last year.
Parliament’s decision to dismiss Atalay in January came after the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld his conviction, paving the way for moves to strip him of parliamentary immunity.
But the Constitutional Court, which reviews whether judges’ rulings comply with Turkey’s basic law, said on August 1 that Atalay’s removal from parliament was “null and void.”
Lawmakers from the AKP and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party joined forces on Friday to reject the opposition motion.
The Turkish parliament has previously voted to lift immunity from prosecution for opposition politicians, many of whom are Kurds, whom the government considers “terrorists”.
