We write to provide you an update on the recent events that took place in Turkey considering that reliable information is hard to come by in these days.
As you might be aware, there has been a coup attempt in Turkey by the members of Gulenist Terror Organisation (Fethullahci Teror Orgutu in Turkish, FETO in short) deployed in Turkish Armed Forces on 15 July 2016. Even though the attempted coup has failed, Turkish government has declared “90 days of emergency rule” on 21 July 2016 in order to shut down Gulenist Terror Organisation among side other terrorist structures operating in Turkey.
As per to Turkish law, emergency rule can only be declared in the existence of a serious threat to public order. The most important two aspects of emergency rule are; the government could issue statutory decrees and carry out overseas military operations.
In the scope of the above authorities, Turkish government has issued 9 statutory decrees so far all of which are in relation to effective counter terrorism against Gulenist Terror Organisation, PKK, PYD and ISIS. The objective of the decrees is to dismiss and/or arrest civil servants who are found to be members of the terrorist organisations. In this regard, emergency rule did not have any effect on Turkish citizens who are not associated with terrorist organisations as well as not having any effect on foreigners in Turkey.
On 13 August 2016, International Labour Act which sets out the rules for foreigners who are working in Turkey or who are seeking to work in Turkey has been published on the Official Gazette. As per to the Act, foreigners will not be able to work in Turkey without a valid work permit in place. The Act also provides that if a foreigner has a long term residency permit or minimum 8 years work permit, they are allowed to apply for “indefinite working visa”. Indefinite working visa holders will benefit from the same rights as Turkish citizens apart from right to vote, military service and public service.
In addition to above, Turkish government has launched a military operation by entering in Syria on 21 August in order to remove ISIS from Turkish borders. Operations has been successful hence ISIS seems no longer a threat to Turkish borders.
From the beginning of emergency rule, Turkey has been signing cooperation and trade treaties with many countries including Israel, Russia and China.
In conclusion, even though there has been a public perception of Turkey being not safe in the light of recent events; in fact there has been an effective campaign against terrorist activities.
Having put disagreement on other matters aside, Erdogan and AKP (the ruling party) and all other parties including CHP, the main opposition party and majority of the Turkish people are in consensus that the peace will be restored.
We hope that in the near future, Turkey will be more financially secure and welcoming environment to invest in than ever having freed from the threat of terrorist organisations.
We hope that you find the above clear.
Kindest Regards,
LLI Team
