Police chiefs in 37 provinces changed

With a decree signed by AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the police chiefs of 37 provinces have been changed, while 22 police chiefs have been reassigned to the central organization in a move seen as a sidelining.

Diyarbakır Provincial Police Chief Fatih Kaya has become the Deputy Director General of Security.

Bursa Provincial Police Chief Sabit Akın Zaimoğlu has been appointed to replace former Antalya Provincial Police Chief İlker Arslan, who was dismissed and sent to prison after being arrested as part of a "bribery" investigation.

Special Operations President Süleyman Karadeniz has been appointed as the Muğla Police Chief. Ali Canpolat, whom he replaced, has been reassigned to the central organization. Karadeniz had previously made headlines last year on July 15 when he kissed the hand of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli during a visit to the Special Operations Department.

Security Protection Department Head Tamer Taş has been appointed as the Kastamonu Provincial Police Chief, Counter-Terrorism (TEM) Department Head Ergün Dağıstanlı as the Çanakkale Police Chief, KOM President Şükrü Yaman as the Balıkesir Police Chief, and Traffic President Muhittin Ayhan as the Edirne Police Chief.

Police Chief Inspector Arzum Nazman, who gave the order to take Tolgahan Demirbaş, one of the currently detained defendants in the Sinan Ateş murder investigation, from the side of then-MHP MP Olcay Kılavuz, has become the Adıyaman Police Chief.

The provincial police chiefs of Şırnak, Bartın, Bitlis, Erzurum, Uşak, Sivas, Malatya, Adıyaman, Kırşehir, Karabük, Muğla, Bilecik, Çanakkale, Kırıkkale, Giresun, Antalya, Trabzon, Mersin, Tunceli, Bolu, and Mardin have been reassigned to the central organization in a move seen as sidelining.

Among these directors reassigned to the center are Burhan Akçay, who was appointed to Sivas during the tenure of Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu; Selçuk Doğuş, who was appointed to Sakarya during the same period; and Kırıkkale Police Chief Mustafa Emre Başbuğ, who was also appointed as a provincial police chief for the first time during that same period.

The appointment decisions published in the Official Gazette are as follows:

News Source: 12punto