Last year, a close friend advised me to stop trying to make a meager living by writing articles. Instead, this friend said, I should take up firearms training for all the senior Turkish bureaucrats who have been rushing to buy guns. The problem, he said, was that these new gun owners had no idea how to use their weapons. My friend said that's why he began offering private training on how to care for, load, conceal and carry guns. The last phase of training is target practice at a range.
The same friend called me again recently, saying, “The demand is through the roof. They are now issuing carry permits to all AKP [Justice and Development Party] members, and journalists and celebrities. We are short on instructors. We pay $200 an hour — join us.”
His words came back to mind — front and center — on Oct. 23, when Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced that AKP members from Turkey's restless east and southeast regions will be given gun permits. "They will be given police protection as well," he said. "We will make sure they are defended by long-range weapons.” After his statement, a social media frenzy broke out, with several hashtags calling on AKP members to arm themselves, and opponents questioning if this was the prelude to a civil war in Turkey.
The personal armament trend is not new. In the first six months of 2016, Turkey jumped from No. 25 to No. 8 among the top countries buying weapons from Germany, according to a report prepared for the German Council of Ministers.
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