Highlights: Türkiye: imprisoned opposition MP stripped of his mandate. Sentenced to an 18-year sentence, Can Atalay remains in detention despite his election last year. The opposition unanimously denounces a serious attack on the constitutional order. The presidential party, the AKP, is considering a reform to bring this institution, perceived as too resistant to the injunctions of those in power, into line. Its ultranationalist ally, the MHP, is calling for its outright abolition.

Türkiye: imprisoned opposition MP stripped of his mandate

In an unprecedented and very controversial move, the Turkish Parliament agreed this Tuesday, January 30, to strip opposition MP Can Atalay, who has been imprisoned for almost two years, from his mandate. Sentenced to an 18-year sentence, Can Atalay remains in detention despite his election last year and despite two decisions by the Constitutional Court in his favor. The opposition unanimously denounces a serious attack on the constitutional order.

A photograph shows a portrait of imprisoned Turkish Workers' Party (TIP) MP Can Atalay during an inauguration ceremony at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara on June 2, 2023. AFP - ADEM ALTAN

By: RFI Follow

With our correspondent in Istanbul,

Anne Andlauer

This is a new episode in a case which gave rise to the most serious legal crisis in recent years in Turkey.

Can Atalay, deputy of the Workers' Party (TIP), has just been stripped of his mandate during a stormy session where opposition elected officials threw away copies of the Constitution and accused the power of burying the Rule of law.

Elected last year, Can Atalay was never able to sit in the Turkish Parliament. He has been in prison since April 2022 as part of the trial of the alleged leaders of the anti-government Gezi movement.

Twice, the Constitutional Court requested his release. Twice, the Court of Cassation refused to release him. Supported by President Erdogan, who considers the Gezi movement of 2013 to be an attempted coup d'état, the Court of Cassation therefore refused to recognize the authority of the decisions of the Constitutional Court, and Parliament followed it.

A Constitutional Court whose future is uncertain... The presidential party, the AKP, is considering a reform to bring this institution, perceived as too resistant to the injunctions of those in power, into line. Its ultranationalist ally, the MHP, is calling for its outright abolition.

Read alsoTurkey: two important courts of justice clash over the case of an imprisoned MP

Türkiye: imprisoned opposition MP stripped of his mandate

Türkiye: imprisoned opposition MP stripped of his mandate

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