Erdogan rules out lifting emergency rule for now

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday ruled out an immediate end to the year- old state of emergency imposed after a failed coup, saying it could only be lifted once the fight against terrorism was finished.

Earlier on Wednesday Turkish authorities detained 14 army officers and issued warrants for the detention of 51 people, including 34 former employees of state broadcaster TRT, for suspected links to the coup, local media reported.

“There can be no question of lifting emergency rule with all this happening,” Erdogan said in a speech to investors in Ankara. “We will lift the emergency rule only when we no longer need to fight against terrorism. Lifting the emergency rule can be possible in the not- too- distant future.”

He did not give a more specific time frame.

Ankara imposed the state of emergency soon after the coup attempt last July, when a group of rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, helicopters and warplanes and attacked parliament in a bid to overthrow the government, killing more than 240 people.

Since then, some 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from the army, civil service and private sector and more than 50,000 detained for alleged links to the coup.

Emergency rule allows the president and cabinet to bypass parliament in passing new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms as they deem necessary.

Critics say Erdogan is using the measures to quash dissent, while the government says they are necessary because of the gravity of the security threats Turkey faces.