'Fists are flying': Brawl breaks out among Turkish lawmakers. Here's what happened

All hell broke loose in theGrand National Assembly of Turkey on Friday (Aug 16) after a brawl broke out among lawmakersduring a heated debate over an opposition delegate currently jailed on what are widely considered to be politically motivated charges.

According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, television footage showed Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) representativeAhmet Sik was attacked by a lawmaker from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) while speaking at the chamber’s podium.

What led to the brawl?

Sik is a colleague of jailed TIP leaderCan Atalay, who was elected from prison as a parliamentary deputy for the party in last year's election. The report said that Sik had called members of the AK Party a “terrorist organisation.”

In a subsequent scuffle involving dozens of deputies, a female lawmaker was struck, leaving drops of blood on steps leading to the speaker’s lectern. Another opposition member was also reportedly injured.

Physical tussles are not uncommon among Turkish lawmakers.

'A shameful situation'

Reacting to the brawl, the leader of the main oppositionOzgur Ozelsaid, "It is a shameful situation.Instead of words flying in the air, fists are flying, there is blood on the ground. They are hitting women."

The extraordinary session of the Turkish Grand National Assembly was called on Friday to debate the case of TIP leader Atalay. In 2023, he had been sentenced to 18 years in prisonfor his role in anti-government protests in 2013, which challenged the rule of Erdogan.

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Since being elected, Atalay has been fighting to take his seat in parliament, which comes with immunity from prosecution and would see him released from Marmara prison. He has said he would return to prison once his term ends.

Although he has achieved successful rulings from the Constitutional Court, these have been ignored by lower courts.

In its third ruling in Atalay’s favour, the Constitutional Court on August 1 said the decision to strip him of his parliamentary status was “null and void.” Opposition parties then demanded a special session to discuss the case.

(With inputs from agencies)