Turkish authorities have blamed Gulen, a one-time Erdogan ally, of being behind the attempt to topple Turkey’s government and called on the USA to arrest and extradite him.
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He and the cabinet will be able to enact laws bypassing parliament; the constitutional court will be unable to challenge them; there could be restrictions on publications and freedom of assembly; and broader powers of arrest.
The president said: “The objective of the state of emergency is to most effectively and swiftly take steps necessary to eliminate the threat to democracy in our country, the rule of law, and the rights and freedom of our citizens”.
Some 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended or detained since the military coup attempt, increasing tension across the country of 80 million that borders Syria’s chaos and is a Western ally against Islamic State.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Turkey’s state of emergency should only last as long as it’s “absolutely necessary”.
“This measure is in no way against democracy, the law and freedoms”, he added.
In addition, 8,777 Interior Ministry employees have been sacked, as well as 1,577 university deans. “This is a tactical thing to get [his] hands on Gulen, his main rival, opposition figurehead”, Botros said, adding that Erdogan’s moves of “extortion” also include “threatening” the European Union with a flow of migrants. “However, I am telling them that there is a global threat, an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government, there is no religion and no religious values here”, Yildirim said on Monday.
For some Turks, the move raised fears of a return to the days of martial law after a 1980 military coup, or the height of a Kurdish insurgency in the 1990s when much of the largely Kurdish southeast was under a state of emergency declared by the previous government.
More than 250 people were killed before the rebellion was put down.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the documents were being reviewed in light of the three-decade old extradition treaty that exists between the United States and Turkey.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told media that Materials related to the extradition of the cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania were submitted to USA authorities by the Turkish government in electronic form.
There are also fears that key institutions within Turkey are in crisis.
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But given the criticism of the president for curbing both while in office, doubts persist over how an increasingly authoritarian leader will use this, especially given the recent purges. Mr Gulen denies any involvement.
