Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) added an annotation of opposition to the Watchmen legislative proposal that expands the authority of the watchmen.

 

'INTERNAL ARMY OF DESPOTISM ESTABLISHED IN AKP PERIOD'

 

 

The annotation states that while there were 11 thousand 398 watchmen in 2018, the number of police and watchmen have risen to 253 thousand 886 today. Announcing that this number is more than the number of soldiers in countries such as Germany, France, Ukraine, Israel, Morocco, it is stated: "A large internal army of despotism created during the AKP period. There are 185 police officers per person in Turkey and when you add the watchmen to these numbers, it shows that a paradigm of war is imposed on the people in Turkey. Despite this huge budget and the larger number of law enforcement units than most of the countries' armies, needing 'subsidiary powers' shows that the government is clearly implementing their own political program.

 

MILITARY POWERS PUT IN PLACE

 

In the annotation where it is stated that military powers have been put in place in Turkey that is getting more and more authoritarian by the day, "The termination of the peace process where the Kurdish question and Turkey's democracy issue had been discussed, the Dolmabahçe Consensus being ignored and an alliance with MHP and former deep state elements ccelerated authoritarianism. In such a 'one man' structure, the groups called 'watchmen' have been placed in the streets. The watchmen hired by the ruling party organizations and some deep power circles, without any merits, can secure the one-man regime" was said.

 

'EYE OF THE GOVERNMENT ON THE STREET'

 

It was stated that as the dissatisfaction of the citizens with the government increased, the government produced a new pressure and control mechanism every day, the watchmen is an indicator of the party state.

 

The annotation which states that the watchmen are the eye, the detective and the handcuffs of the government, it stated: "The watchmen system is being used as means of supervision and repression for the society. The watchmen system is a part of the government's despotism, their insecurity towards the society and their way of protecting themselves. They never had a position for the common good."

 

The annotation stated that the watchmen will be used especially in the opposing neighborhoods.

 

The following statements were made in the commentary: “It is not a coincidence that the government needs a protective shield by the year of 2020. In this period where Turkey is in multiple crisis, while the government keeps reproducing tools of repression and violence for their survival, reports describing this unique period and public opinion surveys reveals the gravity of the situation in terms of people in Turkey. The reality is that the pressure on the people is increasing with the institutionalization of the watchmen system, just to protect the government, which will further corrode the state of law."

 

'THE RADICAL GROUPS ARE HIRED AS WATCHMEN'

 

The annotation includes the allegations that some of the militants in Syrian National Army (SMO) were given Turkish citizenship and they are hired as watchmen. The annotation states: "The law proposal should be withdrawn and the watchmen system should be abolished because of the concerns that the AKP, which establishes organic ties with radical groups, will make some of its promises to these groups by including them in the watchmen system."

 

 

THE RIGHT TO USE FORCE AND WEAPONS: A NEW SECURİTY CRISIS

 

Regarding the articles that give the guards the authority to use weapons and force, the following was stated: Watchmen should not be given this authority.  It is not difficult to guess that the watchmen have the potential to resort to violence in every street and that they will increase violations as much as possible. It is obvious that even if the police are given the right to use weapons in certain situations, the provision of such authorization to the watchmen who are not subjected to any psychological and legal education will lead to new security crises. This is AKP arming their own paramilitary forces and suppressing the neighborhoods. With the increase in individual armament and the security problems that are exposed, the government almost wants to create a new paramilitary power."