Six heads of organized crime unit dismissed as hundreds relocated in new police purges [just after an operation against al-Qaeda]


Date posted: January 15, 2014

ANKARA

The Turkish government’s massive purges at the Police Department following a damaging graft probe continued with a fresh wave of relocations on Jan. 15.

Six heads at the smuggling and organized crime unit (KOM) of the Police Department were dismissed overnight as 500 officers have been relocated to new assignments. The head of the unit that played key roles in conducting wide-scale investigations had already been relocated in a previous wave of the purge. The institution’s website has reportedly crashed due to overload as the members of the police who have been relocated rushed to computers to learn their new assignments.

The Ankara Police Department was again the target of the purge as six deputy police chiefs were also dismissed Jan. 15, three of whom were only recently appointed following the graft probe.

The new relocations come as two heads of anti-terror units who conducted an operation against al-Qaeda and raids against a local branch of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) charity were dismissed on Jan. 14.

The purges have been interpreted as a tit-for-that response from the government for the graft investigations that implicated four ex-ministers and have affected almost all echelons of the Police Department.

Many have suggested the movement of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen is the target of the purges. His Hizmet (Service) movement has been repeatedly accused by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of orchestrating the graft probes through its members who are known to hold key position in the police and judiciary.

The heads of the departments of the three big cities – Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir – were all dismissed following the graft scandal.

In a second wave of the purge on Jan. 8, almost 350 officers working in key operational units at the Ankara police were dismissed in one sweep.

Relocations have also hit the bureaucracy, as top officials at the finance and education ministries have been replaced.

Source: Hurriyet Daily , January 15, 2014

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Offensive launched against Hizmet-affiliated schools in Antalya

The Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, which earlier changed the zoning plans of schools in the province affiliated with the faith-based Hizmet movement in compliance with a call made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in June, is to make a final decision on the fate of the schools following deliberation by the municipal commission on zoning and public works.

‘Parallel’ paranoia reaches the kitchen of Parliament

In the latest example of the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) “parallel” paranoia, the ruling party’s Sinop deputy and head of the Parliamentary Interior Affairs Commission, Mehmet Ersoy, ordered restaurant officials in Parliament to remove a dish called “samanyolu kebap” as it reminds him of institutions affiliated with the “parallel structure,” a daily reported on Monday.

Conflict between Gülen Movement and Turkey’s ruling AKP reflected in business world

TÜSİAD, just like the [Hizmet] community’s TUSKON, has voiced the concern of possible fouls likely to be committed against the judiciary. As a matter of fact, these concerns have proved right for now with the executive seizing the judiciary.

GYV: PM’s discriminatory rhetoric undermines social peace

Arguments and discriminatory rhetoric used by the prime minister against the Hizmet movement spoil the emotional well-being of our people; undermine social peace and prepare the groundwork for violence by sowing the seeds of hatred in society, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) said in a forceful statement .

What Is Next In Turkey?

The generals were never the script writers of the coups but only players. The script writers of the coup on July 15 in Turkey aimed to simulate a coup as if it was staged by the Gulen movement. It was simply a false flag. While only a few hundred soldiers were involved in the coup, more than ten thousand officers were purged and arrested. While the police officers challenged the coup plotters, twelve thousand police officers were fired two months after the coup.

Pak-Turk schools: Parents urge government against transferring administration to Erdogan-linked organization

“All the Turkish teachers and administrators have left Pakistan and the schools are being run by Pakistanis,” said one of the parents Syed Amir Abdullah. He added that the government still seemed hell bent on ruining these institutions by handing them over to an ‘infamous organisation’ which has no experience of running them.

Latest News

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

After Reunion: A Quiet Transformation Within the Hizmet Movement

Erdogan’s Failed Crusade: The World Rejects His War on Hizmet

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

In Case You Missed It

Establishing a Culture of Coexistence and Mutual Understanding Conference convenes in Nigeria

“Sharing Coexistence Experiences” panel took place in Italy

Strategic defamation by Stratfor

Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen loses 72-year-old brother

Woman with soft tissue tumor held in Ankara prison for 8 months: report

Erdoğan’s personal propaganda tool, the MGK

A serious question for a respected newspaper

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News