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By SUZAN FRASER 
 ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s parliament on Thursday approved a contentious government-proposed bill that will grant neighborhood watchmen powers that are almost on par with the country’s police force.
 The bill passed overnight with backing from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party and its nationalist ally, despite opposition parties’ concerns that the legislation empowers an under-qualified force and will lead to human rights violations and a further erosion of freedoms.
 It was approved after days of tense debate that culminated in violence Tuesday, with an opposition legislator saying he was punched by a lawmaker from the nationalist party.
 The watchmen, known as “bekci,” traditionally guarded neighborhoods and parks and were armed only with batons and whistles. The force was abolished and folded into the police in 2008, but Erdogan’s government revived it following a failed coup attempt in 2016. 
 The bill allows the more than 21,000 neighborhood guards — which now also include women — to use firearms, to stop vehicles, carry out ID checks and conduct body searches. The guards cannot arrest or interrogate suspects.
 The government and its nationalist ally insist the neighborhood guards meet a need for an auxiliary force to assist police and that the new powers will facilitate police operations. They argue that neighborhoods have become safer since the force was revived.
 The main opposition pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and two other opposition parties, voted against the proposal,calling it an attempt by the government to form a loyal militia force. They have also voiced concerns that the force, which operates at night, would act as “morality police” in line with the government’s conservative and religious values.
 The opposition argued that recruitment to the neighborhood guards is opaque, and has lead to suspicions that those enrolled are chosen among ruling party supporters. 
 The opposition parties have also criticized the government for prioritizing the security force instead of focusing on unemployment or other negative impacts from the coronavirus outbreak.
 “People have lost their jobs and their salaries ... What good is the watchmen to them?” asked pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party legislator Filiz Kerestecioglu. “An under-educated mass that will perhaps act as a morality police is being unleashed on society.”

Turkey grants increased powers to neighborhood watchmen