Turkish gov't to regulate cylinders used in bomb-making amid anti-terror fight

The sale and distribution of 12-kilogram propane cylinders will be monitored and inspected, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s press office announced on June 10, a day after the country’s Interior Ministry temporarily suspended the sale of fertilizers containing ammonium nitrate. 

A second move to monitor and detect the sale and distribution of other cylinders, including camp cylinders and industrial cylinders, will follow soon, according to reports. 

Among the measures which are set to be introduced are mandatory inscription of serial numbers and QR codes on cylinders in addition to the online tracking of the consumption process. The ministry will also be able to access the identity card information of the final consumer, according to the plan. 

The orders also included tracking the entries and exits of LPG cylinders, which are brought to Turkey from foreign countries.

The regulation is part of efforts to prevent access by militant groups to the substance commonly used in building explosives, including cylinders, fertilizers and inflammable materials that can easily be provided in the market. 

The Agriculture Ministry had announced a temporary ban on the sale of fertilizers containing ammonium nitrate on June 9, shortly after two car bomb attacks hit the country’s largest city as well as a town in the southeastern province of Mardin on two consecutive days. 

The new measures which will be introduced by the ministry will include a ban on retail fertilizers with at least 28 percent ammonium nitrate unpacked, randomly installing tracking chips in some fertilizer packs and requiring distributorship documents from retailers.