TURKEY

Ninety-day state of emergency due to end

January 19, 2017

The state of emergency President Recep Tayyip Erdogan imposed in the days after the coup attempt of July 15, and renewed in October, is due to end. It is almost certain to be extended again – along with the president’s crackdown.

A blast at an Istanbul stadium in December that killed 38 people increases the likelihood that the restrictions will be extended.

Erdogan predicts he will need the state of emergency for a year to stabilise the country. His mass arrests of government officials, police, judges, journalists and teachers since the coup attempt have drawn international condemnation, but have not slowed his purge. His main targets are individuals and organisations with suspected links to terrorist organisations and to the United States-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan blames the Turkish former iman for orchestrating the failed attempt to depose him.

Reuters reported in October that thousands more academics, teachers, health workers, prison guards and forensics experts were among the latest to be removed from their posts. The news agency notes that more than 100,000 people had already been sacked or suspended and 37,000 arrested since the abortive putsch. Erdogan says it is crucial for wiping out the Gulen network from the state apparatus

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) have criticised the reprisals, according to In a Deutsche Welle, accusing the government of capitalising on the coup to stifle dissent in the country. In the report by the broadcaster, the party's chief, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, called Erdogan's plans a "counter coup" to target democracy.

#21896 Published: November 2, 2016