Turkish police to be equipped with heavy weapons: Interior minister

“The police will obtain heavy weapons in the amount that they will use. It’s not our policy to act as if nothing happened,” Ala told broadcaster TGRT on July 28, adding that heavy weapons had been given to the police in the past. 

“They had heavy weapons before. They obtained them on Feb. 28,” he said, referring to the “Feb. 28 process” which eventually led to the notorious military intervention of Feb. 28, 1997, which is often described as a “post-modern coup.”

Ala also noted the need for a system that could stop “ill-minded people,” as well as a “balance of power” that could prevent them from harming Turkey.

“Trust and belief are a part of it. You should introduce a regulation that even prevents an untrusted person from acting. You should implement a system that even if ill-minded people come, they won’t be able to carry out their ill intentions,” he added. 

During the interview, Ala repeated previous statements on intelligence shortcomings, saying they were apparent and “should be taken into account.” 

“[Intelligence] should be restructured and taken into consideration. We should have been informed as soon as the intelligence received the information because we’ve been through a lot. If we don’t introduce the necessary reforms, we will face another major problem after five or 10 years,” he said.