Turkey declares ‘state of emergency’ after failed coup

Parliament voted 346-115 to approve the national state of emergency, which will give Erdogan the authority to extend detention times for suspects and issue decrees that have the force of law without parliamentary approval, among other powers.

Even without the emergency measures, the government has already imposed a crackdown that has included mass arrests and the closure of hundreds of schools.

Meanwhile, eight Turkish military officers, who fled to Greece after last week’s failed coup, were found guilty of illegal entry by a local court in the northern city of Alexandroupolis, where they landed on Saturday in a Turkish military helicopter.

Since the July 15 coup attempt, the government has arrested almost 10,000 people.

Turkey had in 2002 lifted its last state of emergency, which had been imposed in provinces in the southeast for the fight against Kurdish armed groups in 1987. Around 50,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended or detained since the coup attempt, stirring tensions across the country of 80 million which borders Syria’s chaos and is a Western ally against Daesh.

Fethullah Gulen is believed by Ankara to be the mastermind behind the recent military coup attempt. The lieutenant was one of about 30 soldiers said to be involved in the hotel attack in the resort of Marmais.

A spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan said the government was preparing a formal request to the United States for the extradition of Gulen, who Turkey says orchestrated the failed military takeover on Friday in which at least 232 people were killed.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said yesterday that Turkey will follow France’s example in temporarily suspending the European Convention on Human Rights following its declaration of a state of emergency, according to broadcaster NTV. It was necessary, Erdogan said, to enable the state to “take the most efficient steps in order to remove this threat as soon as possible, which is a threat to democracy, to the rule of law, and to the rights and freedoms of citizens in our country”.

Any action stemming from the new powers should only be taken against those with “a provable involvement in punishable actions” and not “an alleged political attitude”, Steinmeier added.

“This measure is in no way against democracy, the law and freedoms”, Erdogan said Wednesday after a meeting with Cabinet ministers and security advisers.