Turkey's state of emergency commission’s term extended

ANKARA

The term of office of a commission investigating state of emergency measures and evaluating appeals by dismissed civil servants has been extended by one more year, as per a presidential decree issued in the Official Gazette on Dec. 26.

According to the presidential decree, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the mandate term of the commission has been extended for another year.

The decision was made as per article 3 of law number 7075.

The commission was set up on Jan. 23, 2017 by an executive order, to investigate controversial state of emergency measures in Turkey and to evaluate the appeals of those dismissed, as well as the foundations and associations closed with emergency decrees.

The commission started receiving complaints on July 17, 2017.

The commission has concluded 36,000 of the 125,000 appeals since its first decision on Dec. 22, 2017 as of October this year. Some 89,000 appeals were being examined.

Those whose appeals were rejected have the right to apply to administrative courts in the capital Ankara within 60 days.

The commission was formed after warnings made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for accumulation. The 24,000 applications rejected by the ECHR, which cited the existence of the emergency panel, were sent to the commission.

Turkey declared a state of emergency after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the followers of the United States-based Fethullah Gülen. As part of emergency rule, the government has issued a raft of emergency decree laws that have led to the dismissal and suspension of thousands of people.

Since the introduction of the state of emergency in the police, military, academia, media and civil service, over 150,000 people were taken into custody, 78,000 were arrested and over 110,000 civil servants were dismissed while 40,000 were reinstated, of which 3,600 by the decree, according to authorities.

Nearly 5,000 institutions were shut down over alleged links to FETÖ.