Turkish parliament approves extension to state of emergency

Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday extended the ongoing state of emergency in the country by three more months.      

The General Assembly approved the Prime Ministry’s motion calling for the extension, which would become effective as of Thursday, 01:00 local time (22:00 GMT).    

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voted in favour of the extension, while the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and People's Democratic Party (HDP) were against it.  

According to the Turkish constitution, a state of emergency can be declared for a maximum period of six months.    

To enact the state of emergency, the government must see serious indications of widespread violence that could interfere with Turkey's democratic environment or its citizens' basic rights and freedoms as established by the constitution.      

Turkey declared a state of emergency for the first time on July 20 last year following a deadly coup attempt that was allegedly orchestrated by a network dubbed by the Turkish authorities as the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO).  

Ankara accuses FETO, allegedly run by its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen, of being behind the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 which killed 250 people and left nearly 2,200 injured.    

Since the coup attempt, Turkish authorities have been working to identify suspects connected to the network, which Turkey accuses of running a decades-long campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) on Monday proposed the extension of the state of emergency to better enable the fight against terror groups, including FETO, Daesh and the PKK.