State of Emergency Commission Rejects 88,700 Applications Since 2017

* Photos: Halil Sağırkaya / AA

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Salih Tanrıkulu, the Chair of State of Emergency Inquiry Commission, has announced the two-year toll of the commission. 

The Commission's term of office has been extended for a year by a decree issued by President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today (December 26).

78 percent of applications concluded

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Tanrıkulu has shared the following information:

* The Commission took office on May 22, 2017. The Commission has 7 members and 80 rapporteurs and 250 personnel have served in the Commission. It started to give decisions on December 22, 2017.

* 126 thousand 300 applications have been submitted to the Commission since its establishment in 2017. The Commission has concluded 98 thousand 300 of these applications so far.

* While 88 thousand 700 applications have been rejected by the Commission, 9 thousand 300 of them have been granted.

* 78 percent of the applications have been concluded so far.

* 50 percent of the accepted applications were related to the opening of closed institutions such as associations, foundations, TV channels and newspaper. Other granted applications were about reinstatement.

Rejected applications

* Sharing information about the rejected applications, Tanrıkulu has stated that there were investigations and prosecutions against 92 percent of those applicants and 50 percent of them were sentenced to prison by heavy penal courts.

* Of the rejected 88,700 applications, 42 percent were detected to have used ByLock, an encrypted communication system allegedly used by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which is held responsible for the coup attempt on July 15, 2016. 47 percent were detected to have deposited money to Bank Asya, which was allegedly affiliated with the FETÖ, for support.

* 28 thousand applications are still examined by the Commission.

Discharges and reasons

Sharing detailed information about the people who were discharged from public service by Statutory Decrees over their transactions at Bank Asya "to support the organization", Tanrıkulu has made the following remarks:

"Our decisions are justified. We do not give any decisions that we cannot defend or cannot lay claim with a sense of justice. At the last stage, we accept an application by receiving intelligence and information from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).

"The decisions of acceptance are given in a highly meticulous manner. For us, cases such as 'They sent their children to a school, they made a payment for that' are not reasons for rejection in themselves. We give a decision of acceptance in cases where only the child was sent to a school." (DB/SD)