Controversial watchmen bill sparks brawl in Turkey's parliament
A fight broke out in Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday night during the debate on a controversial new law that would grant additional powers to the watchmen, a state-run nighttime neighbourhood protection service, practically making them a new law enforcement agency.
MPs engaged in a fistfight following a lengthy address by main opposition party CHP’s whip Ozgur Ozel, who along with other colleagues intended to filibuster the debate.
“I was attacked from behind my back,” Ozel said in televised remarks. “But I’m OK.”
The tensions in the country’s national assembly illustrate the public debate that has been swirling around the proposal, which will give the watchmen police-like authorities such as carrying a gun, being able to stop-and-search individuals, making ID checks and ending a public demonstration if it violates public order.
'This authority could be extended to the intervention of private life and morality police. Will women, LGBT persons, and young people be secure under their watch?'
- Mahir Polat, opposition MP
The watchmen have been a nostalgic theme in old Turkish movies, where older and wise gentlemen would tour the streets at night to secure the neighbourhood and protect the locals. They were commonly depicted as fatherly figures that are central parts of the community.
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Drawn from a similar force used by the Ottomans, the watchmen system was abandoned 25 years ago only to be reintroduced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2017, promising that it would increase public safety.
Critics, however, say many powers that are about to be given to the watchmen violate the constitution.
Retired police chief Yusuf Fidan noted that under the new law, watchmen would be able to search individuals with their hands by touching their clothes, which would nominally require a judge order.
“The law stipulates that the watchmen would be able to take preventive measures to block demonstrations that could disrupt the public order,” Fidan wrote. “Probably they will decide that every opposition protest could fit this description.”
Many lawmakers have drawn parallels between the watchmen and some paramilitary organisations in autocratic countries like Iran.
Mahir Polat, CHP MP from Izmir, described the watchmen as a new "militia" for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that are not sufficiently trained to handle the policing authorities.
“This authority could be extended to the intervention of private life and morality police,” Polat said. “Will women, LGBT persons, and young people be secure under their watch?”
Swelling forces
There are more than 28,000 watchmen deployed in commercial districts and residential neighbourhoods, according to interior ministry statistics. A Eurostat report said in January that Turkey has seen a 26 percent increase in police force numbers in the last 10 years, while EU countries witnessed more than a three percent drop.
With more than 307,000 police and nearly 200,000 gendarmerie forces, Turkey has more than a half a million security forces on the ground. The Eurostat report indicates that there are 185 citizens per police officer (including gendarmerie forces) in Turkey, while this number is 314 citizens per officer in the European Union.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu already said last month that there would be 2,000 additional watchmen hired and deployed on the streets in upcoming weeks. He said it was possible that the numbers could be increased by 4,000 overall.
Supporters of the new law say the watchmen have helped to significantly decrease crime since their reinstatement, and new authorities would make them a more effective force to protect neighbourhoods and shops.
Sermet Atay, an MP from the Erdogan-allied MHP, said burglaries have decreased in the last two years thanks to the watchmen.
“Between 1 September 2018 and 31 May 2020, the watchmen intervened in more than 4,000 burglary incidents. They have located and retrieved 1,219 missing children,” he said.
Atay said the watchmen also discouraged youth from taking drugs. “They have seized 276kg of heroin and cocaine and 82,000 pills,” he said, adding that property damage has decreased 8.7 percent in the first 11 months of 2019.
Parliament has already voted on nine articles from the proposed law and the remaining articles are expected to be ratified next week.
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