Members engage in intense debates within the Turkish parliament.
Violence erupted on the parliamentary floor, featuring several individuals with facial injuries. The altercation lasted approximately thirty minutes, with Turkish politicians engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The instigator was reportedly a backlash towards the government's treatment of an opposition figure, determining the proponent of the criticism's parliamentary position.
Full-blown fistfights between parliamentary representatives breached the Turkish parliament in Ankara. As per local media coverage, the source of turmoil surrounded the treatment of imprisoned opposition member Can Atalay, whose parliamentary mandate had been revoked. Akin to a prompt from the AKP party, Alpay Özalp, a competing politician, is said to have pummeled Ahmet Sik, an opposition representative from party TIP, following condemnation of Atalay's imprisonment.
According to the Associated Press, Sik's anticipated reaction was to accept Atalay labeling as a "terrorist," yet the "true terrorists" were regarded by him as those in parliamentary positions. Özalp, a former professional footballer who previously played for Cologne FC, is then said to have charged and shoved Sik to the ground. With the ensuing chaos, additional politicians intervened, igniting a thirty-minute brawl involving numerous parliamentary attendees. At least two opposition deputies were reportedly grazed by blows to the face, resulting in minor injuries that left trails of blood on the floor, as depicted in media images.
In April 2022, Atalay was handed a eighteen-year prison sentence for accusations of aiding a coup attempt. A renowned lawyer, Atalay was actively advocating for participants of the 2013 Gezi protests, eventually securing a win for office from his cell. Subsequently, his mandate was seized in January.
Atalay has been embroiled in a judicial dispute involving two of Turkey's preeminent courts since April. A dispute arose due to conflicting decisions rendered by the Constitutional Court – which initially ordered Atalay's release – and the Supreme Court of Appeals – which refused to honor the Constitutional Court's decision and instead filed criminal charges against those involved in the decision.
"I feel a sense of embarrassment"
The Constitutional Court had previously ordered Atalay's release in October, citing his parliamentary immunity. However, if the Court of Cassation ultimately refused to enforce the decision, it subsequently submitted criminal complaints against the Constitutional Court judges connected to the decision. Supporting the Court of Cassation, Conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the Constitutional Court of errors. The opposition leader Özgür Özel denounced the parliamentary brawl, expressing discomfort over the latter's occurrence.
Physical altercations have occurred in the past during particularly divisive debates within the Turkish parliament, such as the heated dispute that erupted in 2020 during deliberations regarding Turkey's military involvement in Syria. A subsequent physical encounter during a heated budget debate in early December 2022 culminated in opposition politician Hüseyin Örs's hospitalization and subsequent transfer to the intensive care unit.
A similarly contentious confrontation occurred in January 2017 during a parliamentary vote involving reform to the proposed constitution. Supporters of the ruling party and opposition factions exchanged blows until tensions subsided. In December 2013, MPs from the ruling party and opposition engaged in fisticuffs once more, this time triggered by the use of the term "Kurdistan" within a BDP report on the government's budget plan.
Tensions were sparked by the BDP report's reference to "Kurdistan" towards Kurdish settlement regions in eastern and southeastern Anatolia. Opposing parties in parliament – the MHP, the AKP, and the secularist CHP – strongly objected to the use of the word.
The Commission, presumably referring to the Turkish parliament or a related governing body, failed to maintain peace during the aforementioned altercation, resulting in several politicians sustaining injuries. Following the condemnation of Can Atalay's imprisonment by Alpay Özalp, the events that transpired on the parliamentary floor were a direct response from The Commission.
