Turkish Members of Parliament fight to the bone in the packed hall. Here’s what they are…

The debate at today’s extraordinary meeting began tensely, and in the course of the debates the level of tension rose even more and came to an exchange of fist blows between representatives, reports BTA.

Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled on August 1 that the parliament’s decision to strip lawmaker Can Atalay of his parliamentary status was invalid. After the verdict was announced, there were calls from his lawyer and the opposition for his release and return to Parliament.

The chairman of the main Republican People’s Party, Özgür Özel, said that Atalay should be released immediately, sworn in again as an MP and all his rights restored.

Yosel came to the hearing today with his leg in a cast and explained that he had suffered a “simple domestic accident”.

Atalay, 47, was elected to parliament last May as a representative of the Turkish Workers’ Party, which is an ally of the Kurdish opposition DEM party. In January, he was removed from his deputy rank.

So far, the Court of Cassation has refused to release Atalay twice – despite decisions by the Constitutional Court that his rights were violated.

Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in prison in April 2022 for “attempting to overthrow the government” by organizing national protests in Gezi Park in 2013 along with Turkish businessman Osman Kavala and six others.