Five years after coup attempt, Turkey to vote on extending emergency powers
Turkey's parliament is set to vote on an omnibus bill that includes measures to extend state-of-emergency powers three more years.
ISTANBUL — Five years after a violent coup attempt in Turkey, lawmakers are set to vote on extending some state-of-emergency powers originally introduced in the fallout from the failed 2016 putsch.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s Planning and Budgetary Parliamentary Commission approved a draft bill that includes articles extending emergency measures for three additional years, including powers to dismiss public servants on suspicions of links to terror organizations and hold terror-linked suspects in police custody for up to 12 days without charges.
The Turkish Parliament is now expected to debate and vote on the omnibus legislation, which analysts say is likely to pass into law through a majority vote held by lawmakers with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its coalition partner, the Nationalist Movement Party.
If passed, critics say the bill would prolong measures in Turkey introduced during a 2016 state of emergency and effectively continued following the technical end of emergency rule in July 2018.
