Turkey’s Parliament on Friday extended "emergency rule" in four southeastern provinces until the end of the year, reported the Turkish Daily News.
It said that the decision came shortly after the all-powerful National Security Council (MGK) made a similar suggestion to the government on Friday.
Speaking during the debates on the government-sponsored bill for the extension of emergency rule in Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Sirnak and Tunceli, Internal Affairs Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen stressed that the government wanted to lift the emergency rule application throughout the country, but that there was need for the time being to extend emergency rule in four provinces.
Yucelen said that in the first five months of the year there had been a marked decrease in separatist activity in the area under martial law. He said in the first five months, a total of 66 separatist terrorist activities took place in the area.
The interior minister also said the separatist "gang" had changed strategy, switching from terrorist activities to building a "legitimate" base for its activities and attracting logistical and political support.
After the completion of a debate, the bill was approved by Parliament and emergency rule in the four provinces, first declared in 1987, was extended by four more months for the 43rd time, said the paper – Albawaba.com
