Turkey Moves to Extend State of Emergency Despite Calls for 'Immediate' Lifting

The Turkish parliament has decided to extend the state of emergency for three months.

The decision comes just hours after snap presidential and parliamentary elections were announced by Turiksh President Tayyip Erdogan.

Earlier in the day, Turkey's main opposition political force, Republican People's Party (CHP), called for an immediate end to a state of emergency, saying that "there cannot be an election under emergency rule."

However, the Turkish National Security Council proposed a three-month extension of the state of emergency on April 17, which would be the seventh such move since its first introduction. 

READ MORE: Turkey Extends Country's State of Emergency by Three Months — Reports

Turkey has been in a state of emergency after the July 2016 failed military coup in several major cities across the country. Over 240 people were killed and more than 2,000 others were injured in the unrest, which Ankara blamed on Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen’s movement, referred to it as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). Gulen, living in exile in the United States, has denied the allegations. 

While the state of emergency has been extended for three months since then, Turkish authorities have been detaining thousands of journalists, judges and human rights activists over their alleged support for the Gulen movement.