by hCa
August 2014
According to the data Eurostat provides, between 2003 and 2006, the net increase in the number of police officers in Turkey was 12.121, and, then 83.091 in the next five years from 2007 and 2012. 1 In other words, for the first 5year term approximately an increase of 3.000 per year, and almost 11.800 each year in the following term. Net increase has multiplied for almost four times after 2007, annually! The statistics provided by UN Drug and Crime Office Turkey is, with 564.6 police officers per 100.000, the second in line after Russia. Moreover, 157 people were murdered by the police between 2007 and 2012. Through the sheer skyrocketing of police in quantitative terms, “policing” has become the practical reality of our daily lives in Turkey.
For the full version of the article: (In)securitization by police in Turkey