A draft prepared by the Defense Ministry which proposes legal protection for soldiers of the Turkish army was approved by the Turkish parliament’s national defense commission yesterday. The draft passed with majority of votes from the AKP, CHP and MHP and it has been submitted to the General Assembly of the Parliament today.

According to the draft proposal, an investigation and trial process against Turkish military officers will require the Prime Minister’s permission.

Amid ongoing reactions to the draft, the AKP government aims to increase the number of Turkish forces, both police and military, that are partaking in genocidal attacks in the Kurdish region to 40 thousand.

There were a total of 7,800 special operations police (PÖH) and this was swiftly scaled up to 12,800 recently. In addition 4,000 others were taken under training. It is being aimed to bring the total number of PÖH forces to 20,000 soon.

On the other hand, the number of currently operating 12,500 gendarme special forces (JÖH) was driven up to 13,500 during recent months. 4,000 more JÖH members have been enlisted in the gendarme forces, the number of which is also aimed to be scaled up to 20,000 soon.

Furthermore, the AKP government has also purchased new weapons and munitions, including 200 grenade throwers with selective fire capability, to be used in the genocidal attacks on Kurdish towns and cities.