The CHP’s request for a closed session before the reading of the verdict sent by the Supreme Court of Appeals to revoke the parliamentary deputy deputy status of Can Atalay, Hatay MP for TiP, has been accepted. Parliament decided to hold a closed session. After the closed session, a first happened in the Parliament and Can Atalay’s parliamentary deputy was dismissed by reading the verdict in the General Assembly.
The verdict on TİP Hatay MP Can Atalay, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in the Gezi trial, was read in the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey today. Atalay’s parliamentary deputy status was revoked even though the Constitutional Court had twice ruled on this issue as a violation of rights. Immediately after the reading of the verdict, Can Atalay was added to the “Those whose parliamentary mandate has expired” page on the GNAT website.
The Turkish Grand National Assembly has determined its stance on Can Atalay, a TİP deputy, which has been unresolved since the election and has turned into a crisis between the higher judicial bodies.
AK Party Group Deputy Chair Leyla Şahin Usta announced that they are planning to read the Can Atalay verdict in the Parliament this week. “Can Atalay’s verdict will be read in Parliament today or this week and his parliamentary seat will be revoked,” Usta said.
Constitutional Court decision not complied with
Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in prison in the Gezi trial, and before the verdict was upheld, he had been elected as an MP for Hatay from TİP. He then appealed to the Constitutional Court, but before the Constitutional Court could hear his appeal, the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld his sentence in the Gezi trial.
The Court of Cassation had later ruled that the Constitutional Court had issued a “violation of rights” decision and ordered the suspension of the proceedings against Atalay and his release, but the local court and the Court of Cassation had not implemented this decision. The Court of Cassation filed a criminal complaint against the members of the Constitutional Court, stating that they violated the constitution with this decision.
The Constitutional Court then ruled that the non-implementation of the verdict against Atalay also constituted a violation of rights. Despite the Constitutional Court’s warning, the local court did not hear the case and sent it to the Court of Cassation. This time, the Court of Cassation stated that the Constitutional Court’s ruling had no legal value and sent a second letter to the Turkish Grand National Assembly for Atalay to be stripped of his deputy mandate.
The Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly did not read the verdict on Atalay in the General Assembly while all these discussions were going on, and kept it on hold. However, during the meeting between President Erdoğan and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, who reacted strongly to the Constitutional Court’s decision, this issue was also on the agenda and the two leaders agreed that the verdict should be read in the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly is not bound by the leaders’ decisions. However, AKP’s Usta’s statement revealed that the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey has also formed a will in this direction. Thus, for the first time, the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey took action against an MP despite the Constitutional Court decision.
