Police exam fraud suspects held in nationwide operation

By Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - Thirty-six suspects were detained on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into fraud in the 2012 Police Academy entrance exam, a security source said.

The arrests by the Organized Crime Unit of the Police Department came after simultaneous operations, coordinated from the capital Ankara and held in 25 other cities nationwide, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The investigation was launched on the grounds that the exam’s questions were obtained beforehand by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup in Turkey, and distributed among their followers.

The suspects were taken into custody on charges of fraud in the official examination.

The suspects were among 1,342 people who were dismissed from their positions at the police academy in 2015, the source added.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.