ANKARA, Turkey — Just two days after the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, Turkish presidential adviser Seref Malkoc said on public television that the government should make it easier for citizens to obtain licensed guns to “protect their right to self-defense against coup attempts.” His words failed to generate much debate in the heat of the events, which had claimed the lives of more than 200 civilians among the crowds that took to the streets to resist the putschists.

Then on Dec. 24, 2017, the government issued a legislative decree that granted judicial immunity to civilians involved in the suppression of the coup attempt, ensuing events and acts of terrorism. Alarmed by the vague wording of the provision, opposition parties argued that such immunity would encourage the formation of militia groups and individual armament, warning of uncontrollable consequences and even a civil war.

Some believe the provision is a sign that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to create his own armed militia force as another means to suppress dissent and opposition. Of note, retired Brig. Gen. Adnan Tanriverdi — the head of SADAT, a controversial military consultancy and training company — had joined Erdogan’s team of senior advisers weeks after the coup attempt. Besides SADAT, other entities supportive of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) — such as the Ottoman Hearths, a youth organization, and the People’s Special Forces (HOH), an association founded by a former special forces soldier — have stoked public apprehension. Several months after the coup attempt, the head of the Ottoman Hearths 1453 association had appealed on social media to like-minded “brothers” to “arm themselves in the name of the motherland, the [Turkish] flag and Erdogan.” According to Veli Agbaba, the deputy chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), entities such as SADAT and the Ottoman Hearths are the armed militia of the AKP.

Amid growing outcry over the impunity legislation, SADAT denied it was involved in covert military training camps for civilians, insisting it was a law-abiding defense consultancy company, the first of its kind in Turkey. According to a Jan. 4 statement, images of armed combat on the SADAT website date back to the pre-retirement days of former soldiers who are now working for the company.