What is the difference between a police officer and a Gendarme?
The armed forces in Turkey are made up of four branches: Army, Air Force, Navy and Gendarme (Jandarma in Turkish) Police officers have to study for eight months and they work in town and cities, The Jandarma are the military police and maintain security in rural and frontier areas, especially they work in villages. Jandarma has 250,000 personnel and 25,000 vehicles (jeeps, speed boats, ambulances, motorbikes, etc.) The Jandarma also maintain the security of TV and radio stations, prisons, football matches, airports, dams, some factories, petrol refineries, border gates, retired generals and retired members of parliament. They perform rescues in ski resorts: check the licenses of fishermen hunters, nightclubs and cinemas. There were 2604 Jandarma stations spread throughout Turkey in 1998. There is a special branch in the Jandarma, which is called Tourism Jandarma, which operates in holiday villages providing for the security of tourists. They are attached to the Interior Ministry of the
