BY JACK MOORE
The Turkish president said it would not represent a
threat to the country's democracy.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced
Wednesday the implementation of a three-month state of emergency following last
week’s failed coup attempt. The Turkish parliament is expected to approve his
request Thursday.
It comes after he accused Muslim cleric
Fethullah Gulen,
exiled in the U.S., of orchestrating the coup that left 246 people dead and
more than 1,000 wounded. In response to the attempted military takeover, the
Turkish government has fired or suspended 50,000 people from their posts across
state institutions, arrested 10,000 people, including judges, teachers and
journalists, and closed hundreds of schools.
But what does the state of
emergency mean for the country and its democracy as it continues
to be beset by political instability and a security threat from a range of
militant groups?
In a televised national address, Erdogan pledged to
remove “viruses” from the military, saying that the country had to take
whatever necessary means to prevent a coup, while insisting that the country’s
democracy would not be harmed. “It is very similar to a cancer,” he said. “It
is like a metastasis that is going on in the body that is Turkey. And we will
clean it out.”
This state of emergency would give Erdogan’s
government additional powers that would allow Erdogan to continue
his crackdown on those the government says are linked to the coup attempt.
“We will remain inside a democratic parliamentary
system, we will never step back from it,” he told Al Jazeera. “However, whatever is necessary for the nation’s
peace and stability will be done. I don’t think we have come to the end of it
yet.”
But commentators have expressed concern that the
announcement of a state of emergency will lead to a greater authoritarian rule
for Erdogan in Turkey, giving him greater power to impose law and silence
critics.
David Kenner, Middle East editor of Foreign Policy
magazine, tweeted the article of the Turkish constitution that applies to the
state of emergency, highlighting a section of the text that reads: “During the
state of emergency, the Council of Ministers, meeting under the chairpersonship
of the president of the Republic, may issue decrees having the force of law on
matters necessitated by the state of emergency.”
It will therefore remove the need for both Erdogan and
the country’s cabinet to receive parliamentary approval for new laws, while
being able to limit rights and freedoms of Turkish citizens as they see fit in
the next three months.
Social media users responded in kind, calling the
state of emergency a “presidential system for three months” and a “complete and
thorough power grab.” Erdogan has made it his aim to convert Turkey into a
country that operates under a presidential system, similar to that of France
and Russia.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also
expressed concern and called on the Turkish government to only implement the
state of emergency for as long as it was “absolutely necessary” and then
“immediately end it.”
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.
The Turkish leader’s desire for such executive power
was highlighted after parliamentary elections in June 2015, when the pro-Kurdish
HDP party passed the 10 percent threshold to enter the parliament and deny
Erdogan’s AKP party the majority it would need to implement legislation without
significant challenge.
The government called a snap election in November 2015
after months of instability and clashes between government forces and Kurdish
militants. The AKP secured the majority that Erdogan had sought.
After the election cycle, many believe that this
failed coup and the ensuing state of emergency provide Erdogan with further
grounds for tightening his grip on power in the country, regardless of his
words to the contrary.
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