The Turkish parliament on December 27, 2020 passed “Preventing Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction” bill that would increase the monitoring of civil society groups.
- The act was proposed by the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development party.
- The Turkish Government passed the bill in order to comply with UN Security Council’s recommendations to keep terror financing and money laundering in check.
- However, some people believe that it violates the provisions under the Turkish constitution since it interferes with the right to freedom of association.
- The act gives the government the power to appoint trustees to NGOs, to suspend their activities, seize their assets and monitor their sources of funding.
- Critics and human rights activists are seeing this move as a way to crack down on dissidents in a country where civil society is already not very free.
(Source: Indian Express)
