A debate in the Turkish parliament over restoring the parliamentary mandate of jailed opposition member Can Atalay devolved into a melee on Friday, leaving at least two lawmakers injured.
Atalay is a lawyer, rights activist and one of the “Gezi Seven” accused of trying to overthrow the government by orchestrating nationwide protests in 2013. He was sentenced to 18 years in jail in 2022.
While in prison, he was elected as a member of parliament with the leftist Workers’ Party of Turkey in 2023 but was subsequently stripped of his mandate.
On Friday the opposition moved to reverse the decision — a proposal which members of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vocally (and physically) disagreed with.
The punch-up began while Workers’ Party MP Ahmet Şık addressed his colleagues to ask for the release of Atalay from prison. During his speech, he called AKP lawmakers “the biggest terrorists of this country.”
At that point, AKP member Alpay Özalan launched into Şık and shoved him to the ground. Other AKP lawmakers joined in to punch him while he was on the floor.
The attack quickly turned into a full-fledged brawl that lasted 30 minutes and led to the suspension of the hearing. When the session eventually resumed three hours later, MPs voted to uphold Atalay’s suspension.
The parliament also reprimanded Şık for his statements against the AKP and Özalan for the assault that kicked off the fight.
Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition party CHP, said he was ashamed to have witnessed the violence. “Lawmakers punched other lawmakers, even women. This is unacceptable,” he said in comments reported by Reuters.
Brawls in Turkey’s parliament chamber have become less rare than one would hope. Back in June, AKP and opposition lawmakers got into a scuffle over the detention of a pro-Kurdish mayor.