The leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, called for the extension of a state of emergency in place in Turkey since July 2016.
"The extension of the state of emergency is of historic importance," Bahceli told his lawmakers in Ankara, saying the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which staged the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, still posed a threat through its "crypto members", or sleeper cells.
"FETO's crypto members are still active. The full disclosure and removal of the crypto members is an urgent need," Anadolu Agency cited Bahceli as saying.
He also rejected calls for the lifting of the state of emergency. "We cannot lift the state of emergency as the conditions are not back to normal. The threat is not yet over," the MHP leader said.
