'Night Guards' are Erdogan's new tool for controlling Turkey
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, used the so-called coup attempt in 2016 to get rid of all his opponents in all fields.
Erdogan has controlled all state
institutions in Turkey, including the army, police and the parliament. The
Turkish president also targets his opponents everywhere else in the world.
Erdogan is now in a bid to allow the
members of his party to be armed. He submitted to parliament a bill in this
regard. The law, he says, is important for the party members to aid police and
the army in fighting crime and enforcing the law.
Called "Night Guards", the
bill shows that Erdogan follows on the footsteps of his grandparents who were
only keen on protecting their own thrones.
The bill tightens the grip of the ruling
Justice and Development Party on power. The bill gives the party members
financial advantages and social prestige.
This comes at a time the party is losing
support on the streets because of the economic crisis in Turkey. This was
manifest in the loss by the part of the latest mayoral elections in most
Turkish cities, especially in Turkish capital, Istanbul.
By trying to get the controversial bill
approved by parliament, Erdogan also works to boost his presence in power and
sabotage any attempt to remove him from power.
The bill is a clear indication that
Erdogan wants to control Turkey altogether. This control will turn Turkey into
a country of militias and revolutionary guards.
The Turkish president implicated his
country's army in foreign wars in Syria and Iraq. He also detained a huge
number of army officers and generals under the pretext that they participated
in the 2016 coup.
Erdogan will most likely succeed in
getting the new bill approved by parliament which is controlled by his party
members and loyalists.
After all, the
same parliament approved his requests for deploying troops in Syria, Iraq and
Libya, even as the majority of Turkish citizens opposed this.