According to an analysis by Anadolu Agency, 248 police officers were granted the title of “gazi,” meaning an honored veteran, for putting their lives at stake for the sake of their county.
The veteran police officers include 11 police commissioners, three police chiefs, one superintendent, two inspectors, 11 sub-inspectors, nine police commanders, and 210 police officers, the analysis found. During efforts to fight the coup, five female security personnel were among the injured.
Ankara – the seat of Turkey’s government and the center of the defeated coup – tops the list of coup veterans, with 183 police officers, followed by Istanbul with 46, and Mugla in southwestern Turkey with eight. The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, has been accused of orchestrating the foiled coup, which left at least 248 people martyred and around 2,200 others wounded.
Turkey's government accuses the FETO terror network of staging the coup attempt as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
Since the foiled coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.