After Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled that removing jailed MP Can Atalay’s parliamentary status was “null and void”, opposition parties called for Atalay’s immediate release to continue his activities as an MP.
“Atalay should be released immediately and allowed to start his duties after taking the oath of office as a member of parliament,” Erkan Bas, President of the Workers’ Party of Turkey, TIP, said on Thursday.
The leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, Ozgur Ozel agreed. “The Constitutional Court has determined .. that the loss of his parliamentary seat is null and void. Can Atalay should be released, he should be allowed to take the parliamentary oath quickly and all his rights should be restored,” Ozel said on Thursday.
Atalay has been in prison for nearly two years. He was jailed for 18 years for his role in the so-called Gezi Park protests of 2013, which President Erdogan’s government classified as an attempted coup.
Atalay was convicted in April 2022 in a trial that also saw the human rights activist Osman Kavala sentenced to life in prison for allegedly trying to overthrow Erdogan’s government.
Despite that, Atalay was elected to parliament in the May 14 elections and his status as a legislator was approved by the Supreme Election Council and by parliament. But the authorities did not release him from prison to take his oath as an MP.
Turkey’s top court ruled on October 25 and again on December 27 that the “right to vote and be elected” and the “right to personal liberty and security” had been violated in the case.
However, the Supreme Court of Cassation ignored the ruling, causing a major legal dispute, since, according to the constitution, the Constitutional Court is the highest court in the country and its decisions are final. There is no right to appeal.
Following the legal crisis, Atalay’s parliamentary position was revoked on January 30.
Lawyers, experts and the opposition accused the Cassation Court of staging a de facto judicial coup attempt. However, President Erdogan and his nationalist allies have supported the court, and have, instead, called for the abolition of the Constitutional Court.…Read more by Hamdi Firat Buyuk
