When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) rose to power in 2002, one of its major pledges was to end the state of emergency in the southeast. In place since the late 1980s, it had been implemented as part of the measures adopted to combat Kurdish insurgents. It remained in effect in two provinces at the time. In 2016, when Ankara declared a nationwide state of emergency immediately after the botched July coup attempt, a former AKP member quipped privately that Erdogan’s opposition to emergency rule was misunderstood: “He apparently meant an end to the regional state of emergency in favor of a nationwide version.” In a similar vein, Erdogan’s pledge to end the post-coup state of emergency appears to have been misunderstood as well.
The two-year-long emergency rule did end on July 19, after the last three-month extension expired, but a security bill, submitted to parliament by the AKP, suggests that Erdogan might have in fact promised an end to temporary emergency rule in favor of one of a permanent variety. The measures proposed in the 30-article “anti-terror package” appears to herald undeclared emergency rule.
One of the most controversial articles pertains to the firing of public employees. In a massive purge after the failed putsch, the government used legislative decrees — a power it enjoyed under the state of emergency — to dismiss nearly 130,000 public employees without investigation or trial. The proposed article will allow the purge to continue through commissions set up at the Constitutional Court, the Appeals Court, the Council of State, and the Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors to decide on the termination of public employees suspected of links to terrorist organizations. Similar commissions would be established for the military, the police, universities, ministries and governor’s offices. Dismissals would not require court findings or rulings confirming that the person in question is actually linked to a terrorist group. The statute would remain in place for three years.
Another measure goes after public servants who faced expulsion after the putsch but were reinstated after examination by a special emergency rule commission. The new provision paves the way for demoting these employees and denying them the chance to claim compensation for their dismissals.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
