The Turkish legislature is facing growing pressure to restore the parliamentary status of an opposition lawmaker whose incarceration led to a judicial crisis after the top court declared the removal of his status “null and void” last week.
Can 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 anti-government protests in 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 two decisions by the top court. In a first in the history of Turkey, the appeals court also filed criminal complaints against 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.
Atalay demanded his immediate release through a written statement posted on his X account on Monday, stating that he objected not only to the injustice he has suffered but also to the “constitutional crisis that our country is facing.”
KAMUOYUNA
Anayasa’nın açık, hiçbir kuşkuya yer bırakmayan hükümlerine karşın “olmayan hükümlerle”, “olmayacak işlemlerle” seçilmiş bir milletvekilinin milletvekilliğini “düşürdüler”. Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi’ni Anayasa’nın açıkça çiğnenmesine ortak ettiler. Tepkim, itirazım,… pic.twitter.com/kbr9VNuNoq
— can atalay (@CanAtalay1) August 5, 2024
Noting that he finds the top court’s reasoned opinion significant, Atalay said the matter at hand concerns the parliament’s legal authority, its dignity and the opposition to the parliament receiving instructions to take action.
Following the top court ruling, TİP also requested that parliament register Atalay as a member and restore his personal benefits.
Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Co-chairperson Tuncer Bakırhan made a statement to the press after visiting Atalay and other defendants in the Gezi Park trial in Marmara Prison on Monday, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported.
“Can’s place is not in prison, but in parliament,” Bakırhan said, calling on the parliament speaker to restore Atalay’s personal benefits and parliamentary status.
Labor unions including the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DİSK), the Chambers of Turkish Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) and the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) also released a written statement on Monday underlining that compliance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court is mandatory as a requirement of commitment to the rule of law.
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 including Atalay and prominent businessman Osman Kavala were convicted of attempting to overthrow the 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.