Puddles of blood on the floor MPs engage in violent brawl in Turkish parliament

Fists fly during a session of the Turkish National Assembly. Several MPs are injured. The reason is a dispute over the detention of a member of parliament.

Members of the Turkish parliament from the government and the opposition came to blows during a debate on an imprisoned human rights lawyer. A video published by the newspaper "Cumhuriyet" showed Alpay Özalan, a member of parliament from the Islamic-conservative ruling party AKP, slapping Ahmet Sik from the Turkish Workers' Party Tip during a speech. Sik then fell to the ground, whereupon a violent brawl broke out in parliament in Ankara.

At least two opposition MPs who tried to break up the scuffle were injured, according to the Habertürk broadcaster. Blood was reportedly seen on the floor of parliament afterwards. The leader of the largest opposition party CHP, Özgur Özel, described the incident as "extremely shameful". Alpay Özalan is a former footballer who played for FC Köln for a time.

Dispute over imprisoned MP

Parliament had held an extraordinary session on the situation of Turkish human rights lawyer Can Atalay. Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in prison in April 2022 for aiding and abetting a coup attempt in connection with the anti-government Gezi protests in 2013. He was elected as a member of parliament in the parliamentary elections in May 2023. The Constitutional Court ordered Atalay's release - however, the Court of Cassation decided not to implement this.

The verdict against Atalay in the so-called Gezi trial is considered politically motivated and was ruled unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights. The Gezi protests of 2013 were also specifically directed against the then Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.