Turkish council to extend state of emergency
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Turkey's Council of Ministers has decided to extend for a further three months a state of emergency declared in the wake of a failed July 2016 coup.
Government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus made the announcement Monday, saying the extension would come into effect from April 19, when the previous state of emergency was to expire. The decision will now go to parliament for approval.
The state of emergency includes the granting of greater powers to security forces in detentions and arrests.
Kurtulmus said that combatting terror organizations "must continue without mercy." He mentioned the followers of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the US and who the Turkish government has blamed for the failed coup. Turkey considers Gulen's movement a terrorist organization.
It is the third extension of the state of emergency in Turkey.
