Numan Kurtulmuş speaks about the removal of Can Atalay's parliamentary membership

Numan Kurtulmuş, the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), spoke for the first time after the removal of Turkey Workers' Party (TİP) Hatay Deputy Can Atalay's parliamentary membership.

Answering journalists' questions on the plane returning from the United Arab Emirates, Kurtulmuş stated that political debates were being 'inflated' and that he did not find this appropriate:

"I categorically reject statements that involve me personally in this, and even relate some statements that somehow associate the Atalay decision with my visit abroad, while I have been conducting meetings to improve the diplomatic relations between the countries and take advantage of the possibilities of parliamentary diplomacy, on behalf of the TBMM. These are unjust and inaccurate interpretations. These visits were planned months ago."

Numan Kurtulmuş, evaluating criticisms regarding the reading of the decision when the Parliament Speaker was absent, stated, "It is known when the Speaker of the Parliament will manage the Parliament according to traditions. Even if I were in Ankara this week, Mr. Bozdağ would still read the decision. Because the management of the General Assembly in the work of the Parliament is carried out by the deputy speaker on duty. Therefore, it is not right to try to resolve this process, especially the political debates that will arise from it, on the streets."

Kurtulmuş concluded his remarks by saying, "It can be said: 'It was already concluded before, why didn't you read it then, and why are you reading it now?' By not rushing to read the decision, the opportunity has been provided to both the relevant deputy to exhaust legal remedies and to reconcile the differences in precedents between high courts. We are neither in a position to legally review the decisions of the Constitutional Court nor involved in their execution. It is the competent court in this matter."

What happened?

Imprisoned since a year and a half ago due to the Gezi Park trial, lawyer Can Atalay was elected an MP in the May elections.

Atalay’s applications for his release to perform his MP duties were rejected by courts.

In late September, the Court of Cassation, the top appeals court, upheld the Gezi verdict, ensuring his continued imprisonment.

In response, Atalay filed an individual application with the AYM, which ruled on October 25 that his election rights were violated.

Instead of directly implementing the AYM verdict, the relevant local court referred it to the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation asserted that the AYM’s decision violated the Constitution and decided to file criminal complaints against its judges.

The AYM General Assembly issued a second violation decision in the Atalay file on December 21, 2023 and unanimously called for the implementation of its decision on imprisoned the MP. The reasoned decision of the court was published in the Official Gazette on December 27, 2023.

After the announcement of the reasoned decision, the İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court panel, instead of implementing the decision which requested the release of Atalay, sent the file once again to the Court of Cassation 3rd Criminal Chamber, arguing in its unanimous decision, that the violation originated from the decision of the Court of Cassation.

And the Court of Cassation, in a new decision, likened the second violation decision of the Constitutional Court regarding TİP deputy Can Atalay to an example of "juristocracy" and declared it as "unlawful."

The decision of the Court of Cassation was announced during the General Assembly of the Parliament on January 30, with the deputy speaker and AKP Group Deputy Chair Bekir Bozdağ reading out the decision. (RT/PE)