Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that the country will be placed under a “state of emergency” for three months, in response to the failed coup.
In a televised address on Wednesday, Erdogan said the decision was made following a meeting with members of the national security council.
The state of emergency was needed “in order to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt,” he said at the presidential palace in Ankara.
“I would like to underline that the declaration of the state of emergency has the sole purpose of taking the necessary measures, in the face of the terrorist threat that our country is facing,” he said, vowing that the “virus in the military will be cleansed”.
Turkey has accused the group of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup, and called him his group as a “terrorist movement”.
Gulen has strongly denied links to the coup.
According to the Turkish constitution, a state of emergency is allowed up to six months.
Under a state of emergency in Turkey, the president can largely rule by decree.
Curfews could be enforced, and gatherings and protests could be banned without official consent, under the declaration.
Media could also be restricted, while security personnel could conduct searches of persons, vehicles or
properties and confiscate potential evidence.
But the interior ministry said that the order “will not affect civilians”, according to Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, who is reporting from Ankara.
