Hundreds of police candidates eliminated in new witch hunt

• published: 01 Jul 2015
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Hundreds of police candidates at the Aksaray Police Vocational High School in Aksaray province were prevented from becoming officers only one week before graduation, after being given an oral test that was introduced by an internal security law earlier this year, as part of a widening government-sponsored campaign against the police force. Students with some of the highest grades ahead of graduation were eliminated in the oral test, while their less successful peers passed. Out of 426 students who took the oral test this year, 386 were eliminated by it. Only 40 students passed the test and are able to graduate from the school. The students, who were very close to becoming police officers, and their parents were disappointed with the oral test results. Speaking to Today's Zaman, a student who failed to pass the oral test said that he was eliminated despite answering all the questions. Saying that the students were asked questions such as which dershanes (preparation schools) they attended when studying for the tests to be admitted to the police high school, the student, who declined to be named, added that the questions asked in the oral test were meaningless. Bursting into tears, the student said he felt that being prevented from becoming a police officer only a week before graduation was unfair. The father of a student who was also eliminated told Today's Zaman that his son had passed other necessary exams, remarking: “My son was a very successful student in his lessons. Why did this oppression affect my son and our family? What did we do wrong?” Explaining that he was poor and was forced to take out a loan to finance his son's education, the father also said: “What will we do? Isn't this an instance of an oppression against us? What will happen to my son's wasted years?” Another parent, speaking to Today's Zaman, said that his son had fulfilled all other requirements, adding: “My son completed school with success. They created an oral exam suddenly and took my son's opportunity away from him. This cannot be legal. My son had already been granted the right to be a police officer. What is being done is nothing less than oppression.” This parent, who also declined to be named, added that the family will apply to all legal venues to restore his son's rights. The oral examination, introduced by the controversial law in March, is believed to have been designed by the government to prevent those who are not pro-government, or those who have any links to the Hizmet movement, or Gülen movement, inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, from becoming police officers. The internal security law is controversial because it allows authorities to arrest suspects based on "reasonable suspicion” instead of tangible evidence. With this law, the threshold for the burden of proof that is required for obtaining a search warrant was reduced from strong and concrete evidence to speculation. The campaign against the police was launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government after corruption and bribery operations went public on Dec. 17 and 25, 2013. The government says the operations were orchestrated by the faith-based Hizmet movement, which allegedly seeks to overthrow the government. According to the government, the movement has members, or "agents," in the police force. The Hizmet movement denies the accusations and the government has so far shown no evidence to back its claims. Through several waves of anti-police operations, the government hopes to “clear the police force of Hizmet members.” The first anti-police operation was launched on July 22 of last year, and was followed by operations on Aug. 5, Aug. 19, Sept. 1 and Sept. 22. Dozens of police officers, including police chiefs, were arrested as a result. Those arrested are mainly officers who were involved in operations against corruption and bribery rings, and against terrorists and other criminal groups. The arrests have been described as unlawful by many legal experts and the courts that ruled for the arrests did not provide sound evidence of crime. Police academies and high schools have also been targeted as part of the campaign. The Police College, a high school that requires a special entrance exam, and the Faculty of Security Studies at the Police Academy, a university, were closed after the approval of the government-sponsored internal security law in March. Some students were given transfer certificates in the first week of April to study at standard state high schools and at the economics and administrative sciences faculties of universities across Turkey, while others were given certificates issued to indicate their dismissal. High-ranking police officials in the Police Academy administration, and all academics who teach in the two schools, have been laid off, with new pro-government officials appointed in their place.