Following the twin suicide bomber attacks in Istanbul on Dec. 10 that killed 44 policemen and civilians, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Dec. 14 addressed his 32nd assembly of mukhtars (elected village and neighborhood headmen).

“From here I am calling on all my compatriots. As the president of the Turkish Republic, according to Article 104 of our constitution, I am hereby declaring a national mobilization against all terror organizations, whether they are called PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party], Daesh [Islamic State (IS)], FETO [the so-called Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization, a term Ankara uses to refer to Gulen followers], DHKP-C [Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front] or whatever,” he said.

A heated debate followed on what his words meant and to what he was alluding. According to the constitution and law on mobilization, to declare mobilization “there must be a situation that would require war; a strong and active uprising against the republic or internal or external actions that would threaten the integrity of the country and the nation.”

According to the law, the decision for national mobilization is made by the Council of Ministers, which is chaired by the president, and is immediately submitted to the approval of the national assembly.