Appeal body begins receiving objections to state of emergency rulings

ANKARA

A commission that has recently been established with the task of inquiring into objections to the state of emergency rulings began its operations on July 17, a year after the coup attempt and emergency rule was declared.

The State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Commission has started to receive appeals mainly from public personnel who have been dismissed from their posts through decree laws issued under the state of emergency rule.  

Turkey was under the criticism from the Council of Europe and the European Union for not setting an appeal mechanism for those who have been dismissed from the civil service and for companies and institutions who have been shut down due to links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ). Turkey had announced its decision to set up the commission in January but took nearly seven months for it to function. 

Around 160,000 have been dismissed while 50,000 have been arrested since the July 15 coup attempt. It is expected that the commission will have to deal with a backlog of cases.

A total of 110,000 applications are expected to be received by the commission in the first stage. Around 105,000 are expected to be from police officers, military officers and civil servants who have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs within the scope of previously issued decree laws, while the rest are expected to be applicants from closed associations, companies and foundations. The commission will examine the objections in order based on when the relevant state of emergency decrees were issued.

The commission was established with a decree law issued on Jan. 23 and consists of seven members.

Along with the seven members, a team of 200 people including inspectors, law officials, accountants, investigation judges and transcribers will also work in the commission.