A brawl erupted between lawmakers in Turkey’s grand assembly on Friday when an opposition deputy was attacked after demanding that his colleague, jailed on charges of organizing anti-government protests but since elected an MP, be allowed to serve.
Video footage showed deputies of the ruling AKP party attacking the speaker, Ahmet Sik, with dozens of MPs joining in the fracas.
Can Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in 2022 after being after being convicted of a charge of attempting to overthrow the government by allegedly organizing the nationwide Gezi Park protests in 2013 with philanthropist Osman Kavala, who is now also jailed. All of the defendants deny the charges.
According to Reuters, despite his imprisonment, Atalay was elected to parliament in May last year to represent the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP). Parliament stripped him of his seat, but on Aug. 1 the constitutional court declared his exclusion null and void.
“It’s no surprise that you call Atalay a terrorist,” Sik said while addressing AKP deputies, “All citizens should know that the biggest terrorists of this country are those seated on those benches,” he said, pointing to the AKP MPs.
