Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak has said it is technically impossible for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to take decrees issued during a state of emergency declared in the wake of a military coup attempt in July to the country’s Constitutional Court for cancellation.
CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said in a statement to the Hürriyet daily earlier this week that his party would take all the government decrees that have the force of law to the top court except for the first one issued because there was a consensus among the political parties on the initial government decree.
In remarks that appeared on the Milliyet daily on Wednesday, Kaynak said: “The cases that can be heard by the Constitutional Court are very clear in our Constitution. They could take laws and parliamentary bylaws [to the top court]. There is also the right to file an individual petition with the Constitutional Court, but this is not for the cancellation of a law. So they cannot take the government decrees to the Constitutional Court.”
The first government decree issued on July 23 in the aftermath of a coup attempt on July 15 increased the period of detention from three to 30 days, closed down 35 healthcare institutions, 1,043 private educational institutions, 1,229 foundations and 19 labor unions and confederations as well as 15 private universities.
Turkish authorities claim Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in Pennsylvania, was the mastermind of the violent coup attempt that killed over 240 people and injured a thousand others on July 15, while Gülen strongly denies any involvement.
The Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have designated the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by Gülen and operating charities, schools and businesses around the world, as a terrorist organization and have launched a widespread crackdown on suspected members since the failed coup.
According to the Turkeypurge.com website, which keeps track of the post-coup-attempt purges in Turkey, more than 100,000 people have been purged from state jobs over alleged links to the Gülen movement.