The first 10 articles of the controversial 'internal security package' were approved in Parliament earlier Sunday.

The domestic security bill prepared by Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has stirred a popular debate as it was highly criticized for giving police forces wider authority, considered as a further threat against already suppressed freedoms and rights.

Parliamentary debate on the 132-article bill was initiated by the ruling AKP government despite all the rejections and objections raised by the opposition against the so-called security package.

Deputies of the HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) and CHP (Republican People's Party) staged sit-in at the Parliament last night to protest against the anti-democratic practices of the AKP ruling. Female deputies covered their faces with scarves in response to the amendment which stipulates prison sentences of up to four years for those who participate in a demonstration with their faces covered fully or partly.