Turkey declares 3-month state of emergency, suspends Convention on Human Rights

Turkey has declared a state of emergency.

(Image credit: OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

published 21 July 2016

After declaring a three-month state of emergency late Wednesday, Turkey announced Thursday that it would also be temporarily suspending the European Convention on Human Rights, an international treaty aimed at protecting human rights and freedoms. The announcement followed Friday's failed coup, which resulted in the deaths of more than 250 people and has since spurred the suspension of thousands of government workers. Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said the country was following the example set by France in the wake of the Paris attacks last year by declaring the state of emergency.

"The purpose of the declaration of the state of emergency is, in fact, to be able to take the most efficient steps in order to remove this threat as soon as possible, which is a threat to democracy, to the rule of law, and to the rights and freedoms of the citizens in our country," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, per CNN's report. Kurtulmus added Thursday that "'structural and individual' intelligence failures" were identified during the coup and the country would be working to "restructure the army," the Huffington Post reported.

Though the state of emergency is set to last three months, Kurtulmus said it could be as short as one and a half months.