EU welcomes lifting of state of emergency in Turkey

By Serife Cetin and Inci Gundag

BRUSSELS, LONDON

The European Union welcomed on Thursday Turkey’s move to lift the state of emergency, imposed after the July 2016 defeated coup in the country.

In a written statement, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said: “The end of the state of emergency in place in Turkey since the coup attempt of 2016 is a welcome step.”

“At the same time, we believe the adoption of new legislative proposals granting extraordinary powers to the authorities and retaining several restrictive elements of the state of emergency would dampen any positive effect of its termination,” she added.

Her remarks came after Turkey lifted its two-year old state of emergency as of Thursday at 1.00 a.m. local time (2200GMT Wednesday).

The Turkish government declared a state of emergency for the first time on July 20, 2016, following the July 15 defeated coup orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

In her statement, Mogherini also reaffirmed the EU’s expectations that “Turkey implements the key recommendations of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission and other relevant institutions and to respect the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary.”

“We also expect Turkey to follow through and reverse all measures that continue to impact negatively on the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and the fundamental freedoms that are at the core of any democratic state,” she noted.

She also stressed that “concrete and lasting improvements in the area of rule of law and fundamental freedoms remain essential to the prospects of EU-Turkey relations.”

On social media, Alan Duncan, Britain’s minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, also praised the move, saying: “Strong welcome for the decision to lift the state of emergency in Turkey.”

He added: “Look forward to increasing return to normality under the rule of law two years after the atrocious coup attempt of 2016.”