Turkey’s Constitutional Court (AYM) has released a ruling declaring the removal of incarcerated representative-elect Can Atalay from the Turkish Parliament in January ‘null and void’. The ruling was a response to several objections that had been filed in the aftermath of Atalay’s January removal. Atalay, a lawyer originally elected in May 2023 to represent the southeastern province of Hatay, has been imprisoned since 2022 due to allegedly ‘attempting to overthrow the government’ during the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
The decision from the Constitutional Court, Turkey’s highest legal body, was released early Thursday (August 1) in the Resmi Gazete.
The decision described the Turkish Parliament’s January decision to strip Atalay of parliamentary status as ‘null and void’.
Last November, Turkey’s judiciary was thrown into crisis when a lower court issued a competing ruling stating that the Constitutional Court’s October 2023 ruling calling for Atalay’s release would not be implemented. Additionally, the lower court’s ruling included a criminal complaint against the members of the Constitutional Court on the grounds that they had ‘exceeded their legal authority’ by calling for Atalay’s release.
AKP responds
Mehmet Uçum, a senior advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), issued a response to the AYM’s ruling in a statement on social media.
“The AYM’s decision to ignore the procedure [to remove Atalay] carried out by a majority in parliament is a violation of the 85th article of the constitution.”
In January, Atalay was stripped of his representative status in a parliamentary procedure led by the AKP. The decision was fiercely opposed by opposition members of parliament, who protested loudly as the removal decision was being read. One opposition lawmaker even hurled a pocket-sized copy of the Turkish Constitution at the AKP representative reading the decision.
Can Atalay’s incarceration, election, and removal
Atalay, a well-known opposition lawyer and activist, was originally incarcerated in April 2022 for his role in the Gezi Park protests. Atalay had previously been involved in other cases such as the 2014 Soma mine disaster and 2018 Çorlu train accident.
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Despite his imprisonment, Atalay ran as a parliamentary candidate in Turkey’s May 2023 general election for the Turkish Workers Party to represent the Hatay province.
Following his election victory, Atalay filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court to be released on the basis of ‘parliamentary immunity’. In a decision released October 25, 2023, the Constitutional Court called for Atalay’s release, arguing the parliamentarian-elect’s continued incarceration represented a violation of his ‘right to be elected and participate in political activities’ and his ‘right to personal freedom and security’.
Despite this ruling, the lower Court of Cassation ruled in November that Atalay would not be released, paving the way for Atalay’s official removal from parliament by the AKP.
Atalay’s lawyer speaks to Medyascope
Following the release of the AYM decision, Can Atalay’s lawyer Deniz Özen spoke to Medyascope and reiterated his call for Atalay’s release:
“The decision underlines that Can Atalay is still a member of parliament. More importantly, the lower court’s previous decision not to comply with the Constitutional Court decision created a ‘de facto’ situation. The Constitutional Court says that there is no legal basis for Can Atalay to be in prison. Therefore, I would say that this decision has very clearly paved the way for his release.”
