ANKARA
A court in Ankara has ruled that 29 out of 37 suspects held for alleged fraud in a 2010 nationwide civil service recruitment exam should stand trial.
The Ankara Fifth Criminal Court of Peace ordered Saturday to keep the 29 suspects under arrest, while the remaining eight suspects were released under judicial control.
On Friday, the 37 suspects had been referred to the court to face the fraud charges.
The suspects were charged with "being a member of an organization formed to commit crimes", "fraud at the expense of public institutions and establishments", and "forgery".
Earlier, the court in Ankara had ordered the detention of a total of 44 suspects for the alleged fraud in the 2010 exam. The 44 suspects included the 37 presented in the court Saturday.
Three suspects had been released earlier, while the search for four remaining suspects was still on going.
The Public Personnel Selection Examination, known by the initials KPSS, which is at the heart of the case was held in 2010.
The first wave of arrests came in late March across 14 provinces, including in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, which resulted in the detention of 62 suspects, 30 of whom were later released.
Police allegedly found the involvement of the so-called “parallel state” members in the fraud.
The suspects held in the first operation also faced charges of being members of a criminal organization, forgery, illegal and harmful activity in public institutions, destroying criminal evidence and abuse of power.
The "parallel state" is a purported group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police, which allegedly want to undermine the current Turkish government.
Turkey’s government alleges that the clandestine network is run by the U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen and that his so-called Gulen movement is responsible for masterminding a plot to overthrow elected authorities.
