On Wednesday the Turkish government has ended the nationwide state of emergency, that was imposed after a failed coup attempt two years ago. The decision comes weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won re-election but crackdown continues.
Though Turkey’s controversial state of emergency comes to an end, the government is set to introduce new anti-terrorism laws it says are needed to deal with continued security threats. The opposition insists the laws are just as oppressive as the emergency powers they will replace.
Turkey declared a three-month state of emergency days after a violent failed coup attempt in 2016, and has extended it seven times since then. Under the state of emergency, tens of thousands of people were arrested or dismissed from their jobs for purported links to terror organizations.
Under the state of emergency, Turkey has arrested more than 75,000 people for alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric whom Ankara blames for the failed coup attempt.
Among them are judges, prosecutors, police and military officers, teachers and academics. Many have repeatedly declared their innocence. Gulen himself denies involvement in the coup attempt.
Critics have accused the government of misusing its emergency powers to erode democracy and arrest opponents, including lawmakers, journalists and political activists, which led to human rights violations.
“They are bringing to parliament new legislation that is aimed at making the state of emergency permanent,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican Peoples’ Party said of the anti-terror laws on Tuesday.
Turkey says the anti-terror measures are necessary because it is the target of several “terror” groups, including a network of Gulen supporters, Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State group.
Fotis Filippou, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe said “the lifting of the state of emergency alone will not reverse this crackdown. What is needed is systematic action to restore respect for human rights, allow civil society to flourish again and lift the suffocating climate of fear that has engulfed the country.”
>Juthy Saha
Turkey Ends Two Years State of Emergency But Fear Remains
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