Turkey expands impunity for Erdogan loyalists
Turkey’s latest set of emergency decrees grant immunity to anyone deemed to have been resisting efforts to overthrow the government during and even after the coup attempt.
One of Turkey’s most respected prosecutors called it “the end of the state of law” and a ruling party official a boost to combatting terror. But whichever way you look at it, the latest set of emergency decrees announced by the government over the weekend is poised to further entrench the culture of impunity that has reigned over the country since last year’s failed coup.
On top of the sacking of some 2,700 government workers, the pair of new decrees published in the Official Gazette on Dec. 24 grant immunity from prosecution for any person, regardless of whether they were acting in any official capacity, deemed to have been resisting "terrorists" or attempts to overthrow the government during the coup. Most controversially, it grants similar immunity to the self-appointed guardians acting against anything that could be construed as a “continuation” of the coup attempt.
Turkey has remained under emergency rule that was imposed soon after rogue officers sought to topple the government and murder the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15 last year. Tens of thousands have been purged from the government and countless others similarly accused of links to the putschists have been jailed under a slew of controversial decrees that critics say have accelerated Turkey's descent into authoritarianism.
Government spokesman Mahir Unal insisted that the latest decrees applied only to actions that were taken during the coup and its immediate aftermath. But opposition politicians across the ideological spectrum disagreed, saying the law constitutes incitement to violence against the government’s opponents and those labeled “terrorists” or “traitors” by its allies in the media.
