Germany expresses concern over Turkey’s state of emergency

The Turkish government is closing down schools, firing academics and university deans, and banning global travel for professors, in the latest measures in response to last week’s coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Council of Europe said it had been informed of Turkey’s decision, and that the convention will still apply, but that individual exceptions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Erdogan, who narrowly avoided being assassinated in a coastal hotel during last Friday’s attempted revolution, said people should not have “the slightest concern with regards to democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights and freedoms”. Thousands of people took to the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. Lawmakers can sanction, under the terms of the constitution, a state of emergency for a period of up to six months.

Authorities have suspended or detained close to 35,000 soldiers, police, judges and civil servants since the coup bid, stirring tensions across the country of 80 million which borders Syria’s chaos and is a key Western ally against Islamic State.

Already, almost 10,000 people have been arrested while hundreds of schools have been closed.

“It is a temporary measure that we were compelled to take due to the flight risk of alleged accomplices of coup plotters in universities”, a Turkish official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera Wednesday. “We urge the government of Turkey to unite the country behind respect for its democratic, constitutional institutions rather than respond to the attempted coup with indiscriminate settling of scores”. The cleric’s movement, which espouses moderation and multi-faith harmony, says it is a scapegoat.

The state of emergency, which comes into force after it is published in Turkey’s official gazette, will allow the president and cabinet to bypass parliament in passing new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms as they deem necessary. There, governors were able to impose curfews, call in military forces to suppress demonstration, and issue search warrants.

He said the state of emergency is a measure “against the terror threat facing our country”.

In Greece, a court sentenced eight Turkish military personnel who fled there aboard a helicopter during the coup attempt to two months in prison for entering the country illegally. The eight, who deny involvement, have applied for asylum in Greece, saying they fear for their safety if they are returned.