Purchase of tear gas and water cannons up in time for Turkish elections
Turkey has begun its most extensive hoarding of riot-control weapons to date, with TRY 625 million (USD 242 million) spent on tear gas, mobile water cannons (TOMA), armored vehicles and various other equipment for police in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast just in time for elections.
اشترت تركيا ب 242 مليون دولار قنابل غاز, مدافع مياه محموله, عربات مصفحه و تجهيزات اخري للشرطه في الجنوب الشرقي الكردي استعدادا للانتخابات
تفاصيل الخبر
Security following the election has become a major concern in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan openly scuttling the peace process with the Kurds, and concerns that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) might rig the upcoming general election on June 7. Fears of a rigged election have especially spread due to election math which indicates that all that stands between continued AK Party rule and a coalition government is whether or not the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) can pass the 10 percent threshold to enter Parliament.
And so the Turkish Interior Ministry has begun hoarding an unprecedented amount of riot control arms and equipment in the major population centers of the southeast, prompting some critics to question whether the AK Party knows beforehand that the Kurds will be unhappy with the outcome of the election, and whether it is preparing its security forces for anticipated civil strife.
According to a report by Turkish news magazine Nokta, the ministry has bypassed standard bidding procedures and spent an unprecedented TRY 625,671,570 (USD 242,569,626) to rapidly purchase arms and equipment for the southeast in the first four months of 2015, constituting the greatest single expenditure by the ministry in the history of the republic. It corresponds to a 700 percent increase compared to the same period in previous years. The purchase was signed off on by then-Interior Minister Efkan Ala at the end of 2014, at a time when President Erdoğan’s rhetoric about the peace process with the Kurds had begun to sour, and the HDP had begun to gain ground against the AK Party.
The equipment includes tear gas, gas masks, mobile water cannons (TOMA), armored vehicles, various other ammunition, equipment and marking solutions for special operations police. These supplies will be delivered before and after the election, further fueling suspicious the government is anticipating unrest.
Some of the sharpest rise in riot gear was seen with tear gas. Only 4,500 tear gas canisters were sent to Diyarbakır, the largest city in the southeast, for the entirety of 2014, yet in the first three months of 2015 the city received 7,150 canisters, a 180 percent increase. Meanwhile 2,330 and 10,550 canisters had been sent to Hakkari and Şırnak respectively in 2014, increasing to 10,950 and 15,800 in the first four months of 2015.
Meanwhile vehicles purchased for the southeast between November and December 2014 upon orders of then-Interior Minister Efkan Ala include 379 mobile water cannons (TOMA), 186 Next Generation Personnel Carrier and Response Vehicles, 120 Shortland Armored Personnel Carriers, 120 Armored Tactical Transports, 120 Armored Buses, 159 Armored Trucks and 20 Armored Excavators.
Last October violence had erupted in the southeast over Ankara’s refusal to intervene in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) attempt to destroy the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, despite Turkey’s heavy military presence right across the border. Turkey’s Kurds and other protesters took to the streets, with the violence peaking on Oct. 6-7 as protesters clashed with security forces and rival groups. More than 40 people died during the protests while hundreds more were injured, including 140 members of the security forces.
May 18, 2015 | BGNNews.com | Istanbul
http://national.bgnnews.com/purchas...-up-in-time-for-turkish-elections-haberi/6072
Turkey has begun its most extensive hoarding of riot-control weapons to date, with TRY 625 million (USD 242 million) spent on tear gas, mobile water cannons (TOMA), armored vehicles and various other equipment for police in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast just in time for elections.
اشترت تركيا ب 242 مليون دولار قنابل غاز, مدافع مياه محموله, عربات مصفحه و تجهيزات اخري للشرطه في الجنوب الشرقي الكردي استعدادا للانتخابات
تفاصيل الخبر
Security following the election has become a major concern in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan openly scuttling the peace process with the Kurds, and concerns that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) might rig the upcoming general election on June 7. Fears of a rigged election have especially spread due to election math which indicates that all that stands between continued AK Party rule and a coalition government is whether or not the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) can pass the 10 percent threshold to enter Parliament.
And so the Turkish Interior Ministry has begun hoarding an unprecedented amount of riot control arms and equipment in the major population centers of the southeast, prompting some critics to question whether the AK Party knows beforehand that the Kurds will be unhappy with the outcome of the election, and whether it is preparing its security forces for anticipated civil strife.
According to a report by Turkish news magazine Nokta, the ministry has bypassed standard bidding procedures and spent an unprecedented TRY 625,671,570 (USD 242,569,626) to rapidly purchase arms and equipment for the southeast in the first four months of 2015, constituting the greatest single expenditure by the ministry in the history of the republic. It corresponds to a 700 percent increase compared to the same period in previous years. The purchase was signed off on by then-Interior Minister Efkan Ala at the end of 2014, at a time when President Erdoğan’s rhetoric about the peace process with the Kurds had begun to sour, and the HDP had begun to gain ground against the AK Party.
The equipment includes tear gas, gas masks, mobile water cannons (TOMA), armored vehicles, various other ammunition, equipment and marking solutions for special operations police. These supplies will be delivered before and after the election, further fueling suspicious the government is anticipating unrest.
Some of the sharpest rise in riot gear was seen with tear gas. Only 4,500 tear gas canisters were sent to Diyarbakır, the largest city in the southeast, for the entirety of 2014, yet in the first three months of 2015 the city received 7,150 canisters, a 180 percent increase. Meanwhile 2,330 and 10,550 canisters had been sent to Hakkari and Şırnak respectively in 2014, increasing to 10,950 and 15,800 in the first four months of 2015.
Meanwhile vehicles purchased for the southeast between November and December 2014 upon orders of then-Interior Minister Efkan Ala include 379 mobile water cannons (TOMA), 186 Next Generation Personnel Carrier and Response Vehicles, 120 Shortland Armored Personnel Carriers, 120 Armored Tactical Transports, 120 Armored Buses, 159 Armored Trucks and 20 Armored Excavators.
Last October violence had erupted in the southeast over Ankara’s refusal to intervene in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) attempt to destroy the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, despite Turkey’s heavy military presence right across the border. Turkey’s Kurds and other protesters took to the streets, with the violence peaking on Oct. 6-7 as protesters clashed with security forces and rival groups. More than 40 people died during the protests while hundreds more were injured, including 140 members of the security forces.
May 18, 2015 | BGNNews.com | Istanbul
http://national.bgnnews.com/purchas...-up-in-time-for-turkish-elections-haberi/6072
