Erdoğan vows to lift state of emergency if re-elected

ANKARA

Photo: Anadolu Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to lift the ongoing state of emergency if he gets re-elected in the June 24 election. 

“If I continue working [as the president], the first thing to do after June 24 would be, God willing, lifting the state of emergency,” Erdoğan said during an interview on private broadcaster 24 TV-360 late on June 13.

Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, five days after a military coup attempt believed to have been masterminded by U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. The authorities now call the movement the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ).

The Turkish Parliament has been approving three-month extensions of the state of emergency since then.

Erdoğan had said last year that the state of emergency “will not be removed until peace is restored.”

He also claimed on June 13 that the state of emergency has not affected the election campaigns of his opponents.

“There is not a single effect of state of emergency on election campaigns. If there is one, they should give me one single example,” he said.

Erdoğan added that lifting the state of emergency “would not mean completely abolishing it with no return.”

“When we see terrorism, we take the strictest measures to stop it. Did France completely abolish its state of emergency?” he said.