Turkey ends state of emergency

Turkey on Wednesday ended the nationwide state of emergency that was imposed two years ago after a failed coup attempt.

First declared on July 20, 2016, days after a thwarted coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the three-month state of emergency rule has been extended seven times since then with the approvals of ministers.

Under the state of emergency, tens of thousands of people were arrested or dismissed from their jobs for alleged links to what it calls the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), believed to have orchestrated the deadly attempted takeover. However the government has decided against extending it again after seven three-month renewals.

The decision comes weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won re-election.

The Turkish government accuses the network of having had widespread influence over many state institutions and the army after decades-long infiltration. The government has issued over 35 emergency decrees and dismissed 130,000 public officials, legal professionals, academics and teachers for alleged terror links.

More than 200 media institutions and 1,500 non-governmental organizations, foundations and associations were closed.

According to figures provided by the Justice Ministry, among over 100,000 criminal investigations filed, 48,000 of them were brought to courts as of July 10.

The ministry stated that the number of arrests made on FETÖ charges is 20,008, while the number for charges of FETÖ links is 13,362, among them 705 are judges and prosecutors, 6,954 soldiers, 5,139 law enforcement officials, and 6,587 are teachers.

Having been legally obliged to cover only matters related to the grounds on which the state of emergency was declared, the decrees have made sweeping amendments in some 107 laws.