University students were handcuffed with their hands behind their backs and laid face down on the ground by police in İstanbul on Wednesday, in a scene that was reminiscent of a notorious incident during the Sept. 12, 1980 coup era. Report ZAMAN

The 1980 military coup was the bloodiest in Turkey and affected the country more than any other coup in Turkey’s history. A total of 650,000 people were detained and police kept files on 1,683,000 individuals. In one incident during the coup period, about 500 high school students were handcuffed and laid face down inside the garden of the İzzet Ünüver High School in the Güngören neighborhood of İstanbul’s Bakırköy district. A similar incident took place in the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) “new Turkey” on Wednesday.

About 500 high school students were handcuffed and laid face down inside the garden of the İzzet Ünüver High School in the Güngören neighborhood of İstanbul’s Bakırköy district during the Sept. 12, 1980 coup era.

The “New Turkey” is a term formulated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his presidential campaign to refer to the country after his election to the presidency.

On Wednesday, a group of university students took shelter in the İstanbul Tax Administration Directorate’s car park to hide after they heard gunshots during an attack on the İstanbul Police Department. However, the students were handcuffed by police and then laid face down in the car park. After photos of the incident were released on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter on Thursday evening, the İstanbul Police Department defended the police officers, saying that they were “trying to ensure the security of the group.”

A woman carrying guns and hand grenades tried to attack the İstanbul Police Department’s headquarters on Wednesday. The police shot the woman dead and detained one man. The incident led to panic among nearby members of the public. Scared by the sound of the gunshots, some university students went to the İstanbul Tax Administration Directorate’s car park to protect themselves.

On the day of the constitutional referendum of Sept. 12, 2010, when major constitutional amendments were adopted, the Zaman daily put a photo displaying the high school students who were detained on its front page and wrote, “Such scenes should never be seen again in Turkey.” However, the same scenes have now been seen again in Turkey, just five years after the referendum.

A new internal security package introduced by the ruling AK Party authorizes the police to search people, vehicles and premises upon a verbal order from a senior officer. The package was passed by Parliament on March 27 after more than a month of debate that included brawls and rising tension between the opposition and the ruling party.

The package has been the target of harsh criticism from bar associations, civil society groups and individuals because it is seen as granting extensive powers to the police force, including the authority to open fire on protesters without warning or to detain and search anyone without a court order on the basis of “reasonable suspicion” — language that replaced the previous “strong suspicion based on concrete evidence.”