Turkey’s justice minister says state of emergency will be lifted in coming days

YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. Turkey’s justice ministerAbdulhamit Gulannounced that the state of emergency will be lifted in the country in coming days, Anadolu reports.

“The state of emergency will be lifted in a few days, but it doesn’t mean that we are going to stop the fight against terrorism”, the minister said.

Turkey declared state of emergency after the July 15, 2016 failed military coup attempt.

The country’s leadership links the necessity of the state of emergency with an imperative to fight against terrorist groups.

Nevertheless, Turkey has used the state of emergency to silence opposition representatives and dissidents. In particular, 67 newspapers, 20 journals, 34 radio stations, 30 publishing houses and 32 TV channels were closed. Thousands of people have been arrested.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan