Sawt Falasteen - Turkey's parliament ousts jailed MP at heart of judicial crisis

The decision to strip lawyer and rights activist Can Atalay of his seat came during a stormy session that included angry chants and attempts to halt proceeding by leftist deputies.

Atalay was one of seven defendants sentenced in 2022 to 18 years in prison as part of a controversial trial that also saw the award-winning philanthropist Osman Kavala jailed for life.

The 47-year-old successfully ran from prison for a seat in parliament representing the earthquake-ravaged Hatay province in last May's general election.

His victory created a tense legal standoff between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's supporters and opposition leaders that pushed Turkey to the verge of a constitutional crisis last year.

Atalay argued that he now enjoyed immunity from prosecution granted to elected lawmakers and petitioned the Supreme Court to release him from jail.

The Supreme Court denied Atalay's appeal in July of last year.

The Constitutional Court -- a body in charge of reviewing whether judges' rulings comply with Turkey's basic law -- ordered the Supreme Court to reverse its decision three months later.

The Supreme Court ignored that order and a second one the Constitutional Court issued in December.

The unprecedented judicial standoff highlighted lingering worries among Turkey's Western allies about the rule of law under Erdogan.

- 2013 protests -

Erdogan initially backed the Supreme Court's decision to keep the opposition lawmaker in jail.

He later argued that the dispute showed the need for Turkey to adopt a new constitution -- a proposal he has been mulling for years.

Erdogan also suggested that it was up to parliament to ultimately decide whether Atalay deserved a seat.

The entire criminal case stemmed from a wave of 2013 protests that posed the first serious challenge to Erdogan's rule.

The youth-driven demonstrations were initially focused on government plans to tear down a small park in the heart of Istanbul.

They soon morphed into a nationwide protest against perceived corruption by the ruling Islamic-rooted party and Erdogan's growing authoritarianism.

Erdogan's government violently dispersed the protests and then began to crack down on its leaders.

Kavala and the others were convicted of trying to topple Erdogan's government following a years-long trial that most Western governments viewed as politically motivated.

The 66-year-old philanthropist won the Council of Europe's top human rights prise last year.

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST