Can Atalay remains in prison, even though he was elected as a member of parliament; despite the Constitutional Court ruling in his favor…
Both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe had reminded that the elected MP should be let free and start his duties in the Parliament.
The Parliament continues to meet with one less member, and our province of Hatay continues to be deprived of the MP it elected.
What did you think when you heard that the Parliament, which is on vacation, would convene extraordinarily to discuss the situation of Can Atalay?
I know that many people thought that the meeting would result in the reinstatement of the rights, as it was advised by the Constitutional Court last week, which declared the decision to revoke his membership invalid.
The general debate proposal would be accepted, the decision to revoke his membership would be overturned, and the way would finally be cleared for Can Atalay to come to Parliament; many people thought so.
But it didn’t happen that way: the Parliament convened, witnessed a bloody fight, and the general debate proposal was rejected.
Imagine: The MP known for always throwing the first punch in every fight was appointed by the AK Party as the administrator in charge of calming the fights in its parliamentary group…
An MP’s face was bruised from the punches he received; the blood of two MPs was spilled, and the Turkish Parliament became the top news on world TV channels with images of the brawl…
Although I couldn’t foresee that it would escalate to a fight leading to bloodshed, I wasn’t at all surprised by the outcome.
Why?
Because the AK Party considers the portrayal of a peaceful protest initiated by youngsters as a warning against the concreting of Gezi Park as an ‘attempted coup’ to be a final judgment; I’m sure they wouldn’t allow any development that would weaken that judgment…
Indeed, the AK Party once again displayed its sharp stance in Parliament, even turning it into a battlefield atmosphere.
In extraordinary sessions, it’s usually the Speaker of the Parliament presides over the session. If they are unable to attend due to any excuse, a deputy speaker takes over the presidency.
Although the Speaker of Parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, was present in Parliament, the AK Party deputy speaker presided over the session instead of the CHP deputy speaker, who was next in line…
We saw Numan Kurtulmuş at the presidential podium after the fight, but by then, blood had already been spilled…
Clearly, Kurtulmuş didn’t want to tarnish his record by presiding over the session; however, his name will still appear in the day’s proceedings.
The hopes pinned on Numan Kurtulmuş to release the elected MP from prison and restore the dignity of the Parliament were in vain.
It’s well known how problematic the language of politics is in our country; I devoted last week’s two articles to the need for some politicians who should be in control of their words to speak in a way that children’s ears should be covered.
Not only their ears but also their eyes should be covered when children are in environments where politicians are present…
There have been combative sessions in Parliament before. We also know that guns have been fired once or twice under the roof of Parliament. What happened the other day is not the first and only example.
However, this time, there is a different situation compared to previous examples: neither the foul language nor the fight is something that the government would want. This time, what happened and what was made to happen could lead to a distraction and questioning of the government’s existence, rather than strengthening its path…
The economic administration, which has pinned its hopes on developments that will leave the financial difficulties behind, will struggle to achieve the desired result with the reflection of these irregularities from the government’s side on domestic and foreign circles…
Who would want to do business with a country whose economy is in trouble and where politics is observed in such a conflictual environment? Who would consider investing or lending money?
The words and images reflecting from politics are not a pleasant sight for the citizens either…
When the masses, who are asked for sacrifice and patience, see the politicians they consider privileged pushing and shoving each other, won’t they realize that this is not a conflict for their benefit?
Of course, they will understand.
The AK Party has put itself in a difficult position, but the scenery at the Parliament certainly has pleased its partner, the MHP, and its leader, Devlet Bahçeli
The government may be calculating that there are still four years left before the general elections, but they might not realize that the dirty words coming out of their own cadres’ mouths and the blood spilled on the floor of Parliament could bring the election date much closer.
[The translation of the article is by ChatGPT with some modifications.]
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