Parliament to convene on Aug 16 over jailed deputy

ANKARA

The Turkish parliament will meet in an extraordinary session on Aug. 16 to discuss the status of jailed opposition deputy Can Atalay.

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş announced that the meeting will take place on Aug. 16 upon an appeal signed by more than one-fifth of the lawmakers.

The Turkish parliament is in recess until Oct. 1 but the opposition parties called for an extraordinary meeting after the Constitutional Court declared the annulment of the parliamentary status of imprisoned lawmaker Can Atalay as null and void.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has called on Parliament Speaker Kurtulmuş to take action to reinstate the parliamentary status of Atalay following the top court’s ruling.

Atalay, a former MP of the Workers' Party of Türkiye (TİP), was sentenced to 18 years in prison in a case related to the Gezi Park protests in 2013. He was elected to the parliament in last May's election while in prison.

The top court had ruled for Atalay’s release twice, saying his freedoms and rights to hold office were being violated. Despite the rulings, the Court of Appeals decided to unseat Atalay, with the move taking place on Jan. 30.