Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave their national flags during a pro-government rally at Kizilay main square, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
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The government says the measures will enable the country to take quicker action against people involved in the failed coup and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek insisted the state of emergency would not be used to infringe upon human rights.
He says it is to eradicate any remaining support for coup conspirators, after last weekend’s chaos. “This practice is absolutely not against democracy, the rule of law and freedoms, quite on the contrary, it has the objective of strengthening and protecting these values”, he said. He also called on USA “not to protect this traitor because this will benefit neither them nor the humankind nor Islam”.
A state of emergency could mean sweeping powers of arrest and detention, press censorship, and curfews.
About 6,000 allegedly pro-coup soldiers, out of Turkey’s 620,000 member military, have been arrested or suspended, as well as 9,000 police officers from the 250,000-strong force.
Opposition politician Ozgur Ozul has told the BBC the aftermath shouldn’t be exploited for political gain. “We have more than enough evidence, more than you could ask for, on Gulen”, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said. “We want to make certain that as the response to the coup is implemented that it fully respects the democracy that we are supporting”. “No one should turn this into an opportunity because we will resist him the same way we fought the coup plotters”.
Turkey’s government said the attempted coup in which rogue elements of the military attacked the parliament, presidential palace and other state institutions, was organized by followers of U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen.
But the interior ministry said that the order “will not affect civilians”, according to Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, who was reporting from Ankara.
He has repeatedly claimed moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen orchestrated the attempted coup on Friday, even though Gulen lives in the US. “They might have different plans for the next period”, the president said.
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Gulen denies any involvement in the failed coup. Some Western leaders expressed concern that Erdogan, who said he was nearly killed or captured by the mutineers, was using the opportunity to consolidate power and further a process of stifling dissent. They will never be able to split us up.
