Off the wire
• Fan dies in Argentine football violence  • U.S. stocks rise as geopolitical tensions ease, earnings heat up  • Trump's 2016 tax returns won't go publice because of audit: White House  • China raises its U.S. treasuries holding in February  • White House defends decision to keep visitor logs secret  • U.S. stocks rise as geopolitical tensions ease, earnings heat up  • Heart disease, cancer become main causes of mortality in Cuba  • Spotlight: UN "deeply concerned" over mounting tension over Korean Peninsula  • Feature: Egyptians celebrate Sham El-Nessim against grief over church attacks  • Mozambique police seize 10 kg of rhino horns  
You are here: 　 Home

Turkey extends state of emergency for 3 more months

Xinhua, April 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

Turkey's state of emergency will be extended by an additional three months, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said late Monday.

The state of emergency would be extended as of April. 19 for three more months, with the parliament's approval, the government spokesperson Kurtulmus said after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He attributed the reason for the extension to the struggle against terror threats, primarily against the so-called Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) that the government accuses of staging coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

The cabinet meeting followed the National Security Council's advice to extend the state of emergency.

The National Security Council and the cabinet convened successively on Monday, one day after a public vote that confirmed governance system change from the parliamentarian one to the executive presidency.

Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, days after a failed military coup, which Ankara blames on the U.S.-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey has already been under a state of emergency for nine consecutive months after a coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Under emergency rule, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Endit