Turkey’s Constitutional Court has said removing the parliamentary status of an opposition lawmaker whose incarceration led to a judicial crisis is “null and void,” once again reviving calls for his immediate release.
The top court’s reasoned decision was published in the Official Gazette on Thursday, five months after its last announcement on Can Atalay.
Atalay, who was elected to parliament from the Workers Party of Turkey (TİP), is serving an 18-year sentence that was upheld by the top appeals court last year after his conviction in what’s known as the “Gezi Park trial,” concerning the anti-government protests of 2013.
A judicial crisis erupted when the Supreme Court of Appeals, which upheld the politician’s conviction, refused to rule for his release from prison last year, defying the top court’s two decisions. In a first in the history of Turkey, the appeals court also filed criminal complaints against the members of the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court had ruled twice last year that Atalay’s rights to security and liberty and the right to stand for election were violated.
The top court said in its reasoned opinion that the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision not to implement its rulings had no legitimacy.
According to the court, it is legally impossible to talk about a conviction for Atalay following its ruling on him on October 25, 2023 and that it’s a constitutional requirement to eliminate the circumstances leading to the rights violation.
The court said a court ruling that has been established to be in violation of the constitution has no legal standing.
Its reasoned opinion concerned its latest decision about Atalay on February 22, when the top court actually declined to issue a new ruling, given that its two previous rulings that his rights had been violated were not complied with by the lower courts.
Atalay was stripped of his parliamentary status in January after a reading of the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeals upholding his 18-year sentence in a riotous plenary session in parliament that saw angry chants and attempts to halt the proceedings by opposition deputies.
The 47-year-old Atalay successfully ran from prison for a seat in parliament representing the earthquake-ravaged Hatay province in the May general election.
The Gezi Park trial defendants were convicted of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government for their alleged role in the protests, which began over an urban development plan in central İstanbul and spread to other cities in Turkey.
The top court in February reviewed an application filed by the lawyers for Atalay and an additional petition filed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The lawyers and the CHP had asked the court to establish that stripping Atalay of his parliamentary status constituted a violation of his rights and to declare the action “null and void.”
Calls for Atalay’s release grow
Following the top court’s announcement of its reasoned decision on the Atalay ruling, opposition politicians and his lawyers have called for his immediate release from prison and the restoration of his parliamentary seat.
CHP leader Özgür Özel and TİP leader Erkan Baş said Atalay should be released, he should be allowed to take the parliamentary oath immediately and all his rights should be restored based on the top court’s decision.
İstanbul Bar Association President Filiz Saraç said the Constitutional Court established not only that Atalay’s incarceration violated the constitution but also that the rule of law was eroded under parliament’s roof due to the failure to implement the top court’s rulings on Atalay.
Saraç said Atalay should be released immediately in line with the top court’s decision.
Atalay’s lawyer, Deniz Özel, told Reuters that the Constitutional Court ruling stated that keeping the lawmaker in prison and stripping Atalay of his status as deputy was not legal.
“The court’s ruling paves the way for his release,” he said, adding that İstanbul’s 13th High Criminal Court would make the final decision.
Atalay’s lawyers subsequently petitioned the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on Thursday, which had tried and sentenced Atalay, requesting his release from prison and a halt to his retrial.
The Gezi Park trial defendants including Atalay and prominent businessman Osman Kavala were convicted of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government for their alleged role in the protests, which began over an urban development plan in central İstanbul and spread to other cities in Turkey.
The youth-driven demonstrations morphed into a nationwide protest against perceived corruption by the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) and then-prime minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s growing authoritarianism.
Erdoğan’s government violently dispersed the protests and then began to crack down on its leaders.