Gas masks, rifles, pepper spray... A new wave of procurement from the EGM

Following the detention of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and Presidential Candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, the General Directorate of Security has taken action to procure hundreds of thousands of pepper sprays and gas canisters in response to the rising protests across Turkey. According to a report by İsmail Arı from BirGün, the EGM, which operates under the Ministry of Interior, has purchased 100,000 gas canisters and 10,000 pepper sprays in recent months; in the coming days, it will acquire an additional 110,000 pepper spray canisters, 50,000 gas grenades, and 13,000 gas masks.

Since these tenders fall under the scope of defense, they are not subject to the Public Procurement Law, meaning the companies they were awarded to and the costs involved will not be disclosed to the public. Meanwhile, the Turkish Medical Association has stated that due to the harm pepper spray causes to human health, it should be considered a "chemical weapon" and banned entirely.

The pepper sprays, masks, and rifles that the EGM has announced it will purchase are as follows: 

•May 26: 50,000 smoke-dispersing, hand-thrown gas grenades

•May 29: 13,000 gas masks

•May 29: 50,000 gas filters

•June 18: 100 quadruple gas rifles

•June 23: 110,000 pepper spray canisters

Because tenders related to defense, security, or intelligence, or those that must be conducted in secrecy, are not subject to the Public Procurement Law, the results of these tenders will not be published. In other words, which company was awarded the tenders, how many millions of TL were spent, and from whom the pepper spray was purchased will be kept secret.

'PEPPER SPRAY IS A CHEMICAL WEAPON'

Meanwhile, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) stated in a declaration on March 21 that pepper spray should be recognized as a chemical weapon and must be banned. The TTB's statement included the following: "The violence and use of chemical gases against citizens exercising their constitutional right to assembly, demonstration, and protest is unacceptable. Tear gases, which we foresee through scientific evidence can lead to dire consequences for both public and individual health, should be evaluated as chemical weapons and their use must be banned immediately."

News Source: 12punto