Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik stressed that the aim of the state of emergency, which Parliament ratified on Thursday is to protect democracy. Stressing that the people of Turkey protected democracy in a way that was never seen in the world's democracy history during the failed coup attempt, Çelik asserted that the quality of democracy in Turkey is no less than democracy in other countries. "All the political parties and all the state institutions are opposed to the coup. This is an extremely important indicator in terms of demonstrating the quality and capacity of Turkish democracy," Çelik said. "We have enough power to protect our own democracy," he added.

Underlining that the aim of the current state of emergency is to protect democracy Çelik said: "The state of emergency is to protect democracy, to protect the state of law, to protect the rights and liberties of our citizens and to protect peace in our country."

Expressing his disappointment in EU countries, Çelik said: "We expect officials of the European Union, European Parliament and European Council to visit Turkey to voice their support for the common democratic values we share by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Turkey. … There is no doubt that the values in danger are the common values of us all."

He said that Fethullah Gülen was the mastermind behind the failed coup attempt and is more dangerous than Osama bin Laden. "This failed coup was a clear attempt to establish a military dictatorship based on a problematic [Gülenist] religious understanding," he said.