After the lifting of the two-year state of emergency imposed for the failed coup, the government of Ankara today is about to vote on a new security law that gives the authorities broad anti-terrorism powers, after having concluded the approval of the individual articles yesterday of the provision.
The new law gives more to local governors, extends periods of detention and allows dismissal of public employees if they are in contact with terrorist organizations or if, in some way, they threaten national security.
The state of emergency, declared after the failure of the 2016 coup, has expired the 18 July but the opponents of President Tayyip Erdogan state that the new executive presidency and the latest security measures give him radical powers to stifle dissent. The opposition tends to emphasize the power conferred on President Erdogan who can issue decrees on executive matters and appoint and remove state officials, including some judges and prosecutors.
According to a statement by the United States Human Rights Office, the number of people detained in the emergency regime is about 160.000, and almost the same number of civil servants have been fired. Last April, the interior minister said that about those detainees, about 77.000 were formally charged and held in prison during the trial.