The shock of the July 15 abortive coup followed by instant imposed reforms and mass purges have drawn Turkey’s security sector — made up of a large military, the National Intelligence Service (MIT), the national police, the gendarmerie command and private security firms — into a structural transformation process. Given Turkey’s undeniable secular-conservative divide, it is not hard to see that the state’s armed security actors are becoming the main instruments of political controversy in the country.

Islamic and ultra-nationalist sources of guidance, particularly in the police force, raise the question of the professionalism of armed security forces that adopt active positions in the debate on Islamophobia and Islamic fascism.

The Turkish National Police Force, which recently celebrated its 172nd anniversary, commands 275,000 personnel. On March 19, about 10,000 police cadets graduated from police vocational schools in 15 provinces after four-month accelerated trainings. Purges against Gulenists had begun long before the coup attempt, and to fill the gap, police began the accelerated trainings.

Photo coverage of the oath-taking ceremony in the central Anatolian city of Yozgat of 1,100 police conscripts triggered acrimonious debate in the country.