Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The human rights activists in Turkey oppose the reforms aimed at ensuring the safety of the country's population, the Hurriyet newspaper reported Feb. 16.
Over 1,000 human rights activists are expected to hold on Feb. 16 a protest in front of the presidential palace in Ankara. The protest's slogan will be "The human rights activists against the police state."
Earlier, the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a number of reforms will be carried out in Turkey to ensure the population's safety.
He said the forthcoming reforms stipulate a ban on holding any rallies aimed against the statehood and threatening the lives of citizens.
Davutoglu said that, in particular, the participants of rallies will be prohibited to cover their faces with special masks, and the use of such masks will be regarded as a threat.
Aside from that, the use of the Molotov cocktail during the rallies, as Davutoglu said, will be set equal to the use of weapon.
He also said the law enforcement agencies of Turkey will see structural changes with regard to the impending exclusion of the gendarmerie from the armed forces.
Following this, a number of opposition parties presented a protest to Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, stating that the country becomes a "police state."
In response, the prime minister said that despite the dissatisfaction of some political parties, the parliament will adopt a package of reforms to ensure the population's safety, which is very important for Turkey.
Last week, the Turkish parliament postponed the consideration of a new package of reforms to ensure the safety of the population.
Edited by SI
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu