Today, the State of Emergency put in place two years ago following the
"failed coup" on the government lead by President Erdoğan , is expiring. It has been announced that it won't be renewed.
During the State of Emergency many fundamental rights were suspended , and the way in which the government implemented its power was growingly authoritarian. The end of that State of Emergency is to be viewed as an encouraging development.
However, there are many reasons to fear that this won't mean that Turkish citizens will fully regain their rights and freedoms, as thousands of civil servants have again been fired only a few weeks ago, hundreds of citizens are still unjustly detained and the journalists who are not in jail saw their media outlets dismantled, or put under pressure of the government.
Yesterday, on the initiative of MEP Marietje Schaake , 34 MEPs - among whom Rebecca Harms, wrote a letter to President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urging him to commit to the defence of fundamental rights, and not persist in denying freedom to an entire nation for the sake of power.
You can access the letter here.
