On Oct. 14, right after the Kobani riots, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu evaluated the events at a Justice and Development Party (AKP) gathering. Davutoglu gave a passionate speech, declaring, “For each TOMA [Turkish acronym for the armored riot police vehicle with water cannon] destroyed, the government will replace with five or 10 new TOMAs.”

He introduced the new security legislation, stating, “In this country, the AKP is the guarantor of democracy, public safety, personal freedoms and security.” Davutoglu said that to pre-empt potential domestic and foreign critics of the government from complaining about further authoritarianism and creation of a police state in Turkey, that they would take the European countries, particularly Germany’s laws, as a model for public order. Davutoglu said those who criticize Turkish police for brutality but view the same behavior as a norm in the West were “unacceptable.”

It did not help much to portray the proposal in a good light that Bulent Arinc, a spokesman for the AKP, said “Let’s look at the US. In the US, the police are everything. If the police[man] stops you in your car, he will tell you to keep your hands on the steering wheel. If you have to sneeze or reach for your pocket, he will shoot you in the head. The police have such a right in the US.” Arinc also cited the German model for the police, saying, “In Germany, the police have the right to arrest you, take you to a guarded place. If we are harmonizing our laws with the European Union, why not reform the law enforcement regulations as well?”

Davutoglu and Arinc’s words generated a public uproar about what expanded police rights could be. No one was quite clear what the German model of policing meant for Turkey, either. Several commentators on social media shared cartoons portraying Davutoglu as a Nazi introducing the 1930s German Model in Turkey.