Turkey’s state of emergency could be lifted before the referendum

Prime Minister Binali Yıldrım has signaled that Turkey’s state of emergency could be lifted before the country votes in a potential referendum on a new charter, while Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmuş also said the government wanted to see it lifted soon. Yıldırım told daily Hürriyet that his government would not permit any situation in which people could argue that “a referendum took place under a state of emergency,” suggesting that emergency rule, which was imposed after the July 15 coup attempt, would be lifted before a potential vote.