ANKARA
A court in the Turkish capital Ankara ordered the arrest of 15 out of 23 suspects who were already in detention for alleged fraud in a 2010 nationwide civil service recruitment exam.
On Wednesday, the Ankara Second Criminal Court of Peace also ordered the release of eight suspects including three women, under judicial control.
The suspects were charged of "being a member of an organization formed to commit crimes," "fraud at the expense of public institutions and establishments," and "forgery" by Ankara prosecutor Yucel Erkman.
On Monday, police had launched an operation in the capital and in Istanbul after the Ankara prosecutor's office ordered the detention of 23 suspects.
The suspects face charges of leaking the questions of a civil service selection exam in an "organized manner".
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 "parallel state" is designated by the government as a group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police, who allegedly seek to undermine the current Turkish government.
Turkey’s government says that the clandestine network is run by the U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.
