A Turkish police chief died by suicide in Ankara after being rejected for an overseas assignment despite ranking first in a written exam, prompting renewed criticism of working conditions as well as interview-based recruitment and promotion practices in Turkey’s police force.
According to the Halk TV news website, Birson Ergene, 34, had applied for a diplomatic security assignment at a Turkish embassy or consulate abroad. Although he received the highest score in the written exam, he was eliminated in the interview stage. He left a suicide note citing alleged injustices during his career and disillusionment with the system.
The Association for Families of Fallen and Disabled Police Officers (EMŞAV) said Ergene had fallen into depression over what he perceived as unfair treatment.
His death has renewed calls for reforms to police working conditions and recruitment procedures, particularly the use of interviews that critics say enable arbitrary decision-making in appointments and promotions.
İYİ (Good) Party lawmaker Turhan Çömez repeated his earlier call for a parliamentary investigation into police suicides, describing the situation as alarming and noting that 14 officers had died by suicide in the past two-and-a-half months and 713 over the past seven years.
His previous proposal to establish a parliamentary commission was rejected.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Zeynel Emre submitted a parliamentary question to the interior minister, demanding an investigation into mobbing allegations within the police force, citing 166 suicides over the past two years.
A separate motion by CHP lawmaker Şenol Sunat to investigate police suicides was also rejected by votes from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Ergene’s case is seen by critics as indicative of a broader problem. Opposition parties, civil society groups and labor unions say arbitrary interview-based hiring practices have become entrenched across public institutions under AKP rule, raising concerns about equal access to public employment, transparency and merit-based recruitment and promotion. Calls to abolish the interview system have so far been rejected by the government.
