Turkey extends state of emergency for another 3 months

The Turkish parliament on Monday approved a bill to extend the state of emergency for another three months, the fourth such extension since last July's failed coup attempt.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister handed to parliament a formal proposal to extend the ongoing state of emergency for three months.

The proposal was submitted to parliament shortly after starting a session of the national security council chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Wednesday, Erdogan said the state of emergency would not be lifted until the fight against terrorism was no longer needed.

The state of emergency has been in force since July 20, 2016, five days after a failed coup.

Since then, some 140,000 public employees with suspected links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by the Turkish government of masterminding the failed coup, have been dismissed from their jobs.

--IANS

ahm/bg