Turkey’s deputy premier said Thursday the state of emergency announced to fight plotters of last week’s failed coup may only last up to 45 days, despite being declared for a three-month span.
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Erdogan said the state of emergency, which would last three months, would allow his government to take swift and effective measures against supporters of the coup.
Speaking in the Turkish parliament, Bozdag also said citizens would not feel any change in their lives during the state of emergency and that it would not negatively impact the economy or investments. Of those, 317 are members of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
More than 6,000 people, around half of them military personnel, have been arrested following the coup attempt, which is said to have been organized by followers of U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen.
His comments came as Dutch, German, and Canadian foreign ministers expressed concern in Washington on July 20 about the scale of the crackdown by Turkish authorities after the coup attempt and called on Turkey to respect the rule of law.
“This practice is not against democracy, law and freedom”.
Erdogan, who had been accused of autocratic conduct even before this week’s tough crackdown, said the state of emergency would counter threats to Turkish democracy.
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.
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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
