“Tear Gas Must Be Banned in Turkey, Worldwide”

“We are opposed to the fabrication and use of tear gas not only in Turkey but anywhere in the world. Turkey or worldwide, tear gas must not be produced,” said Chamber of Chemical Engineers 2nd Chairperson Onur Gökulu, responding police authorities’ statements on the planned production of “national tear gas”.

Police authorities have asked TÜBİTAK, Turkey’s main science institution, to draft a report on the possibility of producing national tear gas, which led to a search of contractor firms, Hurriyet newspaper wrote on September 29.  

While at least 130,000 gas bomb canisters were used in Gezi Resistance protests, police authorities announced that they would purchase an additional stock of 100,000 more. 

Several NGOs including Chamber of Chemical Engineers either drafted reports or released protest statements on the usage of tear gas and its hazardous side-effects on human life, urging authorities to stop its usage immediately. 

“We don’t know what exactly it contains” 

Gökulu told bianet that even though they submitted official inquiries to learn the content of tear gas concoctions, their efforts yielded no results. 

“Even though we submitted an official inquiry, we haven’t been given any information concerning the formula of tear gas. We have no exact knowledge on what they are putting on those capsules.” 

Gökulu also added that the production of tear gas in Turkey would estimably drop unit prices while increasing its use with control mechanism tied to the Turkish state. 

“Tear gas is hazardous with its potential deadly consequences. We must take a position against the production of tear gas in Turkey and worldwide.” (BK/BM)

* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.