Background of the Overall Situation Effects of the Military Coup Attempt A military coup attempt occurred on the night of July 15th, 2016, where approximately 250 coupopposers, 173 of them civilians, lost their lives. The coup-attempt was stopped by civilians, who were asked by the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to take to the streets against the military faction. The government has accused the Fethullah Gülen Organization for conspiring to overthrow the government. The AKP government declared a State of Emergency (SoE) to last for three months on July 20th, which came into effect on July 21st. When the 90 days were completed, the SoE was extended for another three months, effective on October 19th. During the SoE, the government has legislated through executive orders that carry the same legal force as laws, bypassing the Parliament. The executive orders approved by the Council of Ministers are discussed in the Parliament within 30 days. Since July 21st, 12 executive orders have been put into force. The domestic remedy mechanisms are unavailable for the consequences of executive orders. The main opposition party, CHP, has applied to the Constitutional Court for two of the executive orders, but the Court rejected application on the grounds that it does not have jurisdiction over the merits of executive orders. Following the coup attempt, an anti-Gülenist crackdown began on the Turkish Military, National Security Forces, the Judiciary, the media, the academia, the private sector, the education sector, and the civil society. The operations are ongoing, and increasingly not limited to the Gülen Organization. Through the executive orders, the government is dismissing members of opposition civil servant unions, and those who are working for the peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue from their posts, and some of those are being arrested. Due to operations on the judiciary, courthouses have grinded to a halt, the principle of natural judge, where extraordinary tribunals cannot be established to override the national courts has been lifted, and the judiciary has effectively lost its separation and independence from the government. Along with the allegedly Gülenist media organs, other opposition radio and television channels, and newspapers were closed down, and many opposition journalists were arrested. Currently, 128 journalists are under arrest and placed in prison. Many Kurdish TV channels, including one that airs children’s cartoons were shut down for alleged involvement with the PKK or the Gülen Organization. Executive order number 667, issued on July 22nd, has closed down 35 health facilities and institutions, 1.043 private education and dorms, 1.229 foundations and associations, 19 union federations and confederations, and 15 private universities. Most of the executive staff of these organizations were arrested. With the executive order dated November 22nd, 375 more associations from civil society were closed, increasing the number of foundations and associations shut down to a total of 1.604. Suppression of Political Dissent Ten Parliamentarians belonging to the third biggest political party in the Parliament are currently under arrest awaiting trial. This group includes the co-chairs of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP). A myriad of international leaders and rights associations have criticized the arrests due to the damaging nature of the arrests to Turkey’s democracy. Following the arrests, remaining HDP MPs have declared that they would boycott the Parliamentary commission meetings until the release of their colleagues. The context of these arrests show significant symptoms of systemic deterioration of democratic safeguards. The general elections of June 7th, 2015 was the first time a pro-Kurdish party surpassed the 10% threshold for a party to enter the Parliament. HDP’s entry into the Parliament also jeopardized AKP’s majority to form a one-party government. Following the election, the peace process between 4