AKP Group Deputy Chair: 'Can Atalay's parliamentary membership will be revoked'

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) Group Deputy Chairperson Leyla Şahin Usta stated during a live broadcast on NTV today (January 30) that the decision to revoke the parliamentary membership of Can Atalay, a member of the Turkey Workers' Party (TİP) and a convict in the Gezi Park trials, could be read in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) this week.

In response to a question about the revocation of Atalay's parliamentary membership, Şahin-Usta mentioned, "The decision regarding Can Atalay will be read in the Parliament today or this week, and his parliamentary membership will be revoked. We plan to complete it today or this week, to be honest. It has become a routine procedure, and the Parliament needs to fulfill its duty."

Şahin-Usta said, "We have plans for this week. One of the topics we will address along with the agenda," and she continued, "Honestly, I don't think the legal debate will end because there are likely to be processes after that. We, as the Parliament, will follow the issue, and if there is a duty that the Parliament needs to fulfill, we will try to fulfill it."

Letter from 57 bar associations to Parliament Speaker

On the other hand, yesterday (January 29) the presidents of the bar associations of 57 provinces sent an open letter to the Speaker of the Parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, following the claims that the decision to revoke the parliamentary membership of Can Atalay would be read in the Parliament.

In the letter, it was stated, "Not adhering to the decisions of the Constitutional Court will also cause significant harm to the 'Rule of Law' quality specified in Article 2 of the Constitution. Therefore, we expect you to demonstrate a will against the reading of the judgment on Can Atalay in the General Assembly."

What happened?

Imprisoned since a year and a half ago due to the Gezi Park trial, lawyer Can Atalay was elected an MP in the May elections.

Atalay’s applications for his release to perform his MP duties were rejected by courts.

In late September, the Court of Cassation, the top appeals court, upheld the Gezi verdict, ensuring his continued imprisonment.

In response, Atalay filed an individual application with the AYM, which ruled on October 25 that his election rights were violated.

Instead of directly implementing the AYM verdict, the relevant local court referred it to the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation asserted that the AYM’s decision violated the Constitution and decided to file criminal complaints against its judges.

The AYM General Assembly issued a second violation decision in the Atalay file on December 21, 2023. The reasoned decision of the court was published in the Official Gazette on December 27, 2023.

After the announcement of the reasoned decision, the İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court panel, instead of implementing the decision which requested the release of Atalay, sent the file once again to the Court of Cassation 3rd Criminal Chamber, arguing in its unanimous decision, that the violation originated from the decision of the Court of Cassation.

And the Court of Cassation, in its new decision, likened the second violation decision of the Constitutional Court regarding TİP deputy Can Atalay to an example of "juristocracy" and declared it as "unlawful." (RT/PE)