8 parties issue 'rights violation' declaration for Can Atalay: 'The Speaker of Parliament has no discretionary power'

Political parties that requested an extraordinary session of Parliament for Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) Hatay MP Can Atalay, who has not been released despite a Constitutional Court (AYM) ruling on rights violations, met with Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş after their request was rejected.

Emphasizing that the rejection of the meeting call made by CHP, DEM Party, TİP, Saadet Party, Democrat Party, and DEVA Party is a clear violation of law, the party members also issued a joint declaration.

The joint declaration, which noted that a deep democracy crisis is being experienced, also reacted to the stance taken by the Speaker of Parliament. The joint statement emphasized that the 8 political parties will continue to voice their legal and democratic reactions.

"INTERFERENCE OF THE JUDICIARY IN THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH"

The joint declaration included the following statements:

"Due to the events and statements that developed within the framework of the stance of the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, which resists implementing the Constitutional Court's decisions despite the clear provision of Article 153 of the Constitution, the process has ceased to be a judicial crisis and has turned into a deep democracy crisis.

Can Atalay, who was elected as an MP by the will of the people on May 14, 2023, is in Silivri Prison despite two decisions made by the Constitutional Court regarding him. This situation that has emerged is not only an interference of the judiciary in the legislative branch, but in fact, as a reflection of the political reality experienced in Turkey, it signifies the elimination of the separation of powers through the hegemony of the executive and the one-man regime, and the rendering of legal guarantees for the right to personal security for all our citizens open to arbitrary practices.

"ARBITRARINESS IS BEING MADE DOMINANT"

A petition prepared with the request for an extraordinary session of Parliament, with the signatures of a sufficient number of representatives of the eight parties, was submitted to the TBMM Presidency on January 5, 2024, in order to discuss the events defined above and to determine the stance of the TBMM, which dominates its own agenda. However, our request was rejected in a letter that reached us on January 9, 2024, signed by the Speaker of Parliament, contrary to the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure, and parliamentary traditions.

As is known, the TBMM completed its final work in 2023 on December 27, 2023, and took a break from its activities until January 16, 2024. In the face of this de facto situation, rejecting the convening of Parliament by putting forward the view that there is no decision for a recess or break is, first and foremost, contrary to the general principles of law and the rule of good faith. Moreover, on January 2, 2020, in a similar situation, the TBMM was called to a meeting by the then Speaker of Parliament and the meeting was held.

In the face of our aforementioned request, which was submitted with the signatures of the group chairs, deputy group chairs, and a sufficient number of MPs of the eight political parties represented in the TBMM, the Speaker of Parliament does not have discretionary power, but rather a bound power. Conversely, the Speaker of Parliament's rejection of this request of ours, in addition to the violation of Article 93 of the Constitution and Article 7 of the Rules of Procedure, signifies the trampling of TBMM traditions and the complete dominance of arbitrariness in this field. Far beyond the concrete situation, with this stance taken by the Speaker of Parliament, the power of the TBMM to intervene in the country's agenda by convening in an extraordinary session in the face of important developments that our country will encounter from now on is being rendered controversial.

"ATTEMPTS ARE BEING MADE TO RENDER PARLIAMENT DYSFUNCTIONAL"

We are aware that the efforts to neutralize and render Parliament dysfunctional by its own Speaker cannot be evaluated separately from the stance of the current government. In this context, we would like to state that the Speaker of Parliament must remove himself from the position of establishing political opposition through our justified, lawful, and public-interest-oriented requests and must protect the law of Parliament.

As representatives of eight political parties that have signed this and possess different political backgrounds, we announce to the public that we will not remain silent in the face of this clear lawlessness and arbitrariness, and that we are determined to voice our legal and democratic reactions on every platform."

CHP'S GÜNAYDIN: "WE WILL CONTINUE OUR DETERMINED STANCE"

On the other hand, representatives of the 8 parties held a joint press conference in Parliament after the meeting with Kurtulmuş.

CHP Group Deputy Chair Gökhan Günaydın stated that the judicial crisis has taken on another dimension, saying, "Not convening Parliament means opposing the will of the people."

Günaydın summarized the following:

"The judicial crisis has taken on another dimension. As opposition parties, we had called for Parliament to convene on January 9. The Speaker of Parliament conveyed that it was not appropriate to convene. He cited Article 93 of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure as grounds. However, these are precisely the reasons for an extraordinary session. The Speaker of Parliament has no discretionary power here. Numan Kurtulmuş conveyed the views he had communicated in writing during the meeting. Not convening Parliament means opposing the will of the people. If this becomes a precedent, it will turn into a practice that eliminates the power of Parliament to intervene even in the most important events that Turkey may face. We state that we will continue our determined stance."

Taking the floor after Günaydın, TİP Chairperson Erkan Baş said, "From now on, we will continue to protect our unity and continue to struggle against all kinds of lawlessness."