# Erdoğan’s government declares a nationwide state of emergency after the 15 July coup attempt

Date: 2016

## The fact

On 20 July 2016 Turkey declared a nationwide state of emergency after the failed 15 July coup. The Council of Ministers decided; [Erdoğan](/people/recep-tayyip-erdogan) announced it.

## Context

The coup night killed more than 200 people. The emergency, later extended, let the executive legislate by decree-law. Parliament was informed. Courts and the interior ministry implemented. He did not write every later dismissal list by hand.

KHK dismissals are a neighbouring instrument. The 2017 referendum is a different date.

The president of Turkey is head of state and, since the 2017 executive-presidency reform, head of government. The Grand [National Assembly](/organizations/national-assembly) writes statutes; the Official Gazette records decrees; courts, governors, and the armed forces implement. He does not write a European Council conclusion, an IMF programme, or a UN General Assembly resolution.

## Evidence and sources

Official Gazette of Turkey carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is [democratic-resilience](/drivers/democratic-resilience): a completed nationwide emergency concentrates legislative power in the executive for the duration.

## What is established and what is not

Established: a 20 July 2016 nationwide state of emergency announced after the coup night.

Not established: that every later dismissal was this declaration, or a unique later GDP coefficient from that week.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

The Council of Ministers decided. Parliament was notified.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Erdoğan’s government declares a nationwide state of emergency after the 15 July coup attempt, not a later speech about Erdoğan’s government declares a nationwide state of emergency after the 15 July coup attempt.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Erdoğan’s government declares a nationwide state of emergency after the 15 July coup attempt on 2016-07-20 is not a licence to treat every later Official Gazette of Turkey communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor decree exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Erdoğan’s government declares a nationwide state of emergency after the 15 July coup attempt into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He announced and politically owned the emergency. The Council of Ministers decided. Parliament was notified. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series. The Grand National Assembly, the Official Gazette, governors, courts, and foreign counterparties share specific files. Allegation is not a completed judgment. A detention is not a conviction.

Turkey declared a nationwide state of emergency on 20 July 2016 after the failed coup attempt. The subsequent decree framework allowed the executive to adopt far-reaching measures with reduced ordinary legislative sequencing. The Venice Commission’s opinion on the decree laws and the [Council of Europe](/organizations/council-of-europe) Commissioner for Human Rights’ memorandum of 7 October 2016 examined how the decree framework operated outside ordinary legislative and judicial control.

## People

- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: https://factrail.ai/people/recep-tayyip-erdogan

## Drivers

- Democratic Resilience: https://factrail.ai/drivers/democratic-resilience
- Executive-Power Concentration: https://factrail.ai/drivers/executive-power-concentration

## Sources

- https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD%282016%29037-e
- https://rm.coe.int/ref/CommDH(2016)35
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-emergency-idUSKCN1000N4
- https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/tr-state-of-emergency-2016