No referendum under state of emergency: PM Yıldırım

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.

"For the presidential system, we will make a limited change. There will not be any early elections," he added. 
Although noting that "there is no such thing as lifting it as soon as we enter 2017," Yıldırım reiterated that the government did not want to hold a referendum on constitutional changes while the state of emergency is continuing. 

Yıldırım was speaking after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signaled on Nov. 25 that the state of emergency could be extended for additional three-month periods next year. 

"Amid the failed military coup attempt and terrorist acts … We may extend the state of emergency for maybe three months, maybe three more months after that," said Erdoğan. 

The first three-month-period of state of emergency was introduced on July 21 after Turkey survived a coup attempt on July 15 by supporters of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen within the military. On Oct. 21, the government decided to extend it for an extra three-month period, due to end on Jan. 21, 2017.

Kurtulmuş, meanwhile, stressed that they hoped the imposition would be ended "as soon as possible before going to the referendum," adding that this would mean the start of "Turkey's...