After the speech of President Tayyip Erdogan, "I want to hear the guard whistles at night," Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu announced that they started the recruitments of guards. The announcement made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on April 8, 2016, declared that that two thousand 394 guardians will be hired. With the appointments made after 2016, approximately 21 thousand 300 guards were hired.

 

Only after 20 days of Erdoğan's announcement, AKP lawmakers submitted a proposal of law to the Assembly Presidency, which included giving the guards the authority to ask for identities and to use weapons. After the negotiations in the Parliamentary Interior Commission, the proposal of law giving extensive authority to the guards was accepted. The law proposal, which is expected to come to the General Assembly of the Parliement, is expected to become legal after the negotiations are completed.

 

Lawyers and human rights defenders, who consider that it was dangerous step to grant extensive authorities to the guards, said that the citizens would become victims with the increased powers given to the guards.

 

KESKİN: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

 

Human Rights Association (İHD) Co-Chair lawyer Eren Keskin sates that to give such extensive authorities to the guards who will only have an education of profession for 41 days is extremely dangerous. Keskin said that in such a time course in which the torture and violence is legitimized by the state, licensing the guards with such authorization will lead to a belief that state violence will increase in society. Commenting on the fact that the guards are equipped with such authority “is to create their own staff”, Keskin said, “The fact that the government gives such an authorization equal to the police’s to the people who have undergone no training means that the government establishes a new police force completely dependent to them.”

 

Keskin warned that via the legalization of the this proposal of law, the violence will spread everywhere, “There will be guardians in all neighborhoods and streets, and every moment of yours will be under control. This is an extreme security policy. People with no education will be able to impose violence on you just because they oppose your political ideas. This is already happening, but it's dangerous to regulate it by law. Authorized violence is coming to our doorsteps. ”

 

As a final remark, Keskin added that human rights supporters will raise the struggle against this strict security policies.

 

ASSOCIATION OF LAWYERS FOR FREEDOM: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS WILL INCREASE

 

The Co-Chair Lawyer of Association of Lawyers for Freedom Ayşe Acinikli shares the idea that human rights violations will show an increase. Acinikli, who pointed out that the arrangement which declares extensive power to the guards was also significant under the light of the decisions disabling guards to ask for identity, “This fact showed once again the effect of the AKP (Justice and Development Party) on the judiciary and on the independence of the judiciary. While the court decisions say shat guards are not authorized to ask for identity, new regulations were introduced with the arrangement that guards could later use weapons.”

 

Acinikli evaluates the extensive authority given to the guards as follows: “This is such an ambiguous regulation and proposal of law. It does not state it clearly under which circumstances the guards are authorized to stop and search people. Such an ambiguity does not comply with the standards of law. WE know the applications of the police already about asking people’s identity cards. There are certain probabilities that even in a small quarrel with a guard people may face serious human rights violations such as reports not reflecting the reality and physical assault. Even the current police forces do not take the necessary education on human rights issues and violence against woman, it will be such a problematic issue that people of 41 days of education will be authorized by the powers equal to police’s. 

 

YILMAZ: 'AKP’S OWN ARMY'

Lawyer Murat Yılmaz, Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD)-Ankara Branch Co-Chair, who said that the guardianship was brought back upon the speech of President Erdoğan, said and asked: “As of today, the authority of body search, use of arms and asking for identity cards are given to the guard. If these are given to the guard, why is there still police or gendarmerie? ”

 

Saying that guardianship is a “side-staff of political power”, Yılmaz continued as follows: “In fact, this is a staff that AKP has opened for its own supporters. Therefore, the authorization of the powers is definitely wrong and the results will be severe. With less training and more authorization, they will act with a lot more ego than normal law enforcement. There are already enough law enforcement officers in this country, there is a police station in every neighborhood. If you open up and empower your staff even when there is no need, this is AKP's own army for me. First the Emergency State (OHAL), and then the applications which makes emergency state forever. New military powers on the street aim to distribute fear over the society and oppression.”

 

MA/ Berivan Altan