Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the three-month state of emergency in Turkey would enable authorities to act quicker and more efficiently against the coup plotters.
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And there will now be a state of emergency and a suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights so Erdogan and his cronies can more effectively lock up political opponents. “They were in a state of emergency and that is why they entered Greek territory”, Marinaki said.
The extra powers, to restrict freedom of movement and other rights, were needed “to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt”, Erdogan said.
However, the article stipulates that measures must be strictly proportionate and not discriminate against people based on ethnicity, religion or social group.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus assured that the government does not plan to declare curfew and said things would return to normal in less than three months.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the state of emergency was a targeted effort to prevent another coup, but the announcement follows warnings from observers that Turkey’s response to the uprising will be a test of its commitment to human rights.
In the wake of a failed coup in the country, Federica Mogherini said: “We are making it very clear to our Turkish friends – we are fully behind the institutions, the democratic institutions, the legitimate institutions”.
Emergency measures were last removed in 2002, when they were lifted in the regions of Diyarbakir and Sirnak following years of conflict between Kurdish militants and state security forces.
More than 200 people were killed and thousands were wounded in the violence and Erdoğan narrowly escaped being detained at the holiday resort of Marmaris.
The Turkish Parliament is meeting later to approve Erdogan’s proposed state of emergency.
A large proportion of Thursday’s daily press briefing was taken up with questions about the Turkey situation, with Kirby repeatedly declining to criticize the government’s actions, and repeatedly describing Turkey as a friend and ally.
Erdogan on Wednesday told al-Jazeera some of those detained after the attempted coup have started confessing and providing what the Turkish leader said is information that links the coup attempt to Gulen.
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Following the removal of then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in May and appointment of Erdogan’s loyal ally Binali Yildrim, officials said that a cabinet of loyalists would be installed that would see a “de-facto presidential system” come into place without any changes to the country’s constitution required.
