Transparency Key For Turkish Body On Emergency State

Transparent and open information sharing is essential for Turkey's presidential commission examining the process of state of emergency, the head of the commission said on Wednesday.

"As the commission, we have paid attention to follow a transparent and open way to share information about our activities since we took the office," Salih Tanrikulu, head of Turkey's Inquiry Commission on the State of Emergency Measures, told a briefing to foreign representatives from around 20 countries in Turkey.

Tanrikulu said the commission have hosted many foreign representatives in this regard, including delegations from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), European Parliament Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri and European Union Turkey Delegation Ambassador Christian Berger.

"Our aim is to ensure that the commission's activities take place accurately and reliably in national and international media," he noted.

Turkish government declared the state of emergency following the July 15, 2016 defeated coup orchestrated by FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen.

A two-year state of emergency following the defeated coup was lifted on July 20, 2018.

The Inquiry Commission on the State of Emergency Measures was established on May 22, 2017.

He said that a total of 126,200 applications concerning measures under the state of emergency have been made since they started to receive applications on July 17, 2017.

According to the information by the commission, a total of 6,200 of applications were accepted, while 73,800 of them were rejected. Some 46,200 of the applications are pending.

"We are using a data-processing infrastructure at a high level here," he added.

The data processing infrastructure was set up in order to receive, archive, and examine applications in an electronic environment, according to the commission.

Some 250 staffers, including 80 rapporteurs -- judges, experts, and inspectors -- are employed for the application review process.

Tanrikulu then went on to brief the guests on the commission's activities and decisions during a session closed to the press.

The foreign representatives visited the department where the documents are recorded as well as the archives prior to the meeting which was held under the auspices of Turkey's Foreign Ministry.

Since the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, Turkish institutions, including the military, have been working to find and expel elements of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the coup.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary. -