Turkish parliament strips status of opposition MP after judicial clash
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Erkan Bas, the leader of Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP) and his party MPs Sera Kadigil and Ahmet Sik display a portrait of Can Atalay, a jailed MP of TIP, during a swearing-in ceremony at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2023. Atalay has not been released despite a law that opens a way for jailed politicians to be released from prison if they are elected to parliament. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
ANKARA - Turkey's parliament stripped on Tuesday the status of a jailed opposition lawmaker who had been at the center of a judicial crisis between two of the country's top courts.
Can Atalay, 47, was elected to parliament in May last year representing the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP) - an ally of the big pro-Kurdish DEM party - while serving an 18-year prison sentence.
Turkey's top appeals court, the Court of Cassation, twice refused to release Atalay despite a Constitutional Court ruling that his rights to be elected were violated.
The Court of Cassation ruling that upheld Atalay's conviction was announced in parliament on Tuesday at the general assembly session. That resulted in parliament stripping his status. REUTERS
