(AFP) — A violent brawl erupted in Turkey’s parliament on Friday, involving dozens of lawmakers who clashed over the fate of a jailed opposition deputy, Can Atalay, who had been stripped of his parliamentary immunity earlier this year.

The chaotic scene, which lasted around 30 minutes, left at least two lawmakers injured and led to the suspension of the session.

Despite the disruption, parliament later resumed to vote down an opposition proposal to reinstate Atalay’s parliamentary mandate. Atalay, a lawyer and rights activist, had won his seat in the 2023 election while campaigning from prison.

The turmoil began when Alpay Ozalan, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), confronted Ahmet Sik of the leftist Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) after Sik criticized the government’s treatment of Atalay. Ozalan, a former footballer, physically assaulted Sik, pushing him to the ground, where he was then punched by several AKP lawmakers. The incident quickly escalated as more lawmakers joined the fray.

Footage of the brawl, which circulated online, showed staff later cleaning blood from the parliament floor. Lawmakers from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) party suffered head injuries during the altercation.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the CHP, condemned the violence, expressing shame over the incident. The parliament speaker announced that the two deputies who initiated the brawl would face sanctions.

Atalay was initially stripped of his seat following a heated parliamentary session in January, despite resistance from fellow leftist deputies. His removal came after the supreme court of appeals upheld his conviction, paving the way for his parliamentary immunity to be revoked. However, on August 1, the constitutional court declared his removal “null and void.”

In Friday’s vote, deputies from the AKP and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) combined efforts to defeat the opposition’s motion to restore Atalay’s mandate. This incident marks another chapter in the ongoing tension between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters and opposition leaders, which has brought Turkey to the brink of a constitutional crisis. The parliament has previously lifted immunity from prosecution for numerous opposition politicians, particularly Kurds, whom the government labels as “terrorists.”

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