Ankara - MENA
The Turkish parliament passed its controversial homeland security bill on Friday after 16 hours of heated debate over an all-night session.
The bill passed with a vote of 199-32.
Although the government stripped the bill of some of its articles amid fierce criticism from members of the opposition, who said it will turn Turkey into a police state, some of its most contentious measures remained, according to the Deutsche Welle on Friday.
These include allowing the use of firearms against protesters, and giving jail terms for protesters who carry Molotov cocktails and other such weapons.
The bill was put before parliament in response to deadly pro-Kurdish protests in October and a series of demonstrations against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - then prime minister - in May-June 2013.