Detention warrants issued for 54 over alleged Gülen links in exam fraud case
ANKARA
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Ankara on Feb. 17 issued detention warrants for 54 people across Turkey for their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), widely believed to have been behind the July 2016 failed coup attempt.
The warrants were issued for the suspects as part of a probe into the Police Academy Entrance Exam in 2012, according to a statement, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.
The statement added that the suspects had procured the test paper ahead of the exam and later took jobs in the Turkish police.
The suspects are accused of "fraud" and "being member of an armed terror organization."
Police has launched operation in 33 provinces to detain the suspects.
Sweden rejects asylum request of 168 Gülen-linked people
Meanwhile, Sweden dismissed on Feb. 16 the asylum requests of 168 people linked to FETÖ, according to the country’s state radio.
Sveriges Radio (SR), Sweden’s official broadcasting station, announced that according to the Swedish Migration Agency, a total of 183 FETÖ linked people applied for asylum and 15 of them were accepted.
Ömer Türk, who was a principal in a FETÖ-linked school and escaped from Turkey after the failed coup attempt, told SR that his asylum request was dismissed and he did not want to return to Turkey since it would not be safe for him.
Deputy Legal Director at the Migration Agency, Carl Bexelius said regarding the issue: “We do not find it harmful to send them to Turkey even if they are Gülen sympathizers. But if there is a greater risk of going to prison, we accept their requests.”
