Istanbul’s police chief has been dismissed after dozens of people including the sons of Turkish cabinet ministers and prominent businessmen close to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were arrested in a graft probe.
Huseyin Capkin was removed from his post on Thursday, only a day after dozens of senior police officers, including his deputies, in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, were sacked.
On Tuesday, some 52 people were detained in the dawn raids as part of an inquiry into alleged bribery involving public tenders.
The sons of Interior Minister Muammer Guler, Economy Minister Yafer Caglayan and Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar were among those picked up by the police.
The suspects also include well-known businessmen and local government officials.
The operation is being widely interpreted as a challenge to the authority of Erdogan, who boasts of being pro-business and has pledged to root out corruption.
Erdogan described the investigation at a press conference on Wednesday as a “dirty operation,” saying those behind the probe were seeking to form a “state within a state.”
“As we fight to make in the top 10 countries of the world, … some are engaged in an effort to halt our fast growth. There are those abroad … and there are extensions of them within our country,” he added, apparently referring to the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen whose supporters are influential in the country’s police and judiciary.
The Turkish PM also said that the officers were sacked for abuse of office, warning that more dismissals could be underway.
Opposition lawmakers, however, accused the government of trying to hinder the investigation.
According to the local media, Orhan Erdemli, a lawyer for Gulen, denied he had any hand in the investigation.
Source: PressTV