Turkey "Sanctions That Benefit?" - Number of police officials sacked since the start of the investigation rose to 63. (HD).
In the midst of a wide-reaching investigation into alleged bribery and corruption, 14 heads of police units serving at the Security General Directorate (EGM), as well as three deputy general directors at the Ankara Police Department, were removed from their posts on Friday.With the latest removals, the number of police officials sacked since the start of the investigation rose to 63. The names and positions of those fired from the Ankara Police Department were revealed to be İbrahim Pala, director of the organized crime unit, İbrahim Öztürk, director of the smuggling unit, and Lokman Kırcılı, director of the terrorism unit.
A written EGM statement listed the removed police officials but did not specify the reasons for their dismissal. Most of the named officials were serving on the EGM's inspection board. The latest removals have strengthened suspicions that the authorities are working to obstruct the ongoing graft investigation.
On Dec. 17, teams from the financial crimes unit of the İstanbul Police Department carried out dawn raids in İstanbul and Ankara. Over 50 people were detained as part of the investigation.
The sons of Interior Minister Muammer Güler, Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar were among those detained. Other detainees included the mayor of İstanbul's Fatih district, Mustafa Demir, Turkish construction mogul Ali Ağaoğlu, Emlak Konut General Director Murat Kurum, Halkbank General Manager Süleyman Aslan, Iranian-Azerbaijani businessman Reza Zarrab and bureaucrats from the environment and economy ministries.
The operation consists of three separate investigations, according to news sources. One investigation involves Ağaoğlu and other businessmen, the second investigation concerns the sons of the three ministers and the third investigation is probing Halkbank.
The suspects are accused of rigging state tenders, accepting and facilitating bribes for major urbanization projects, obtaining construction permits for protected land areas in exchange for money, helping foreigners to obtain Turkish citizenship through falsified documents, involvement in export fraud, forgery of documents and gold smuggling
Some claim that the suspects illegally sold historical artifacts unearthed during the construction of the Marmaray rail project that connects Europe and Asia.
Shortly after the detentions, 46 senior police officials from the police departments of many provinces, including İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Bursa and Trabzon, who had been ordered by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to conduct the graft investigation, were removed from their posts. The number rose to 63 on Friday.
News sources have reported that 40 more police officials may be sacked. A statement from the EGM on Wednesday stated that the police officials had been removed because of their “abuse of power.” Sources have said the officials were fired because they hid the graft operation from their superiors in the security forces.
İstanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın was removed from his post on Thursday. On Friday, evidence filed in connection with the graft investigation was referred to İstanbul's Çağlayan Courthouse by the İstanbul Police Department. News sources have said there are eight files of evidence.Justice and Development Party (AK Party) İzmir deputy Ertuğrul Günay wrote on his Twitter account that those government figures named in the corruption and bribery operation should have already resigned. “Everyone should accept the consequences of their wrongdoing in a country governed by the rule of law.
Police officials and members of the judiciary should not have been removed. Those mentioned in the corruption and bribery claims should have resigned in order to let the investigation be handled properly. It is totally wrong to place the blame on the judiciary and police force for having discovered corruption,” read Günay's tweet.
The deputy also said the removal of the police officials because of their involvement in the graft operation was a “violation of the law.”
In return, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ expressed his criticism of the graft investigation, claiming that its aim is to discredit the AK Party ahead of the approaching local and presidential elections, in 2014 and 2015, respectively. “This investigation is aiming to fight our [AK Party] party, not corruption. These dirty games, operations and tricks are being carried out to break the party's bonds of love with the people and affect the local and presidential elections,” Bozdağ wrote on Twitter.
He also stated his opinion that the “overthrow of the AK Party” had been attempted in the past, and just as those attempts had failed, so the new attempt through the graft operation would fail as well.Hmmm......I guess the US Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen had an 'interesting' stay in Turkey this week, Todays Zaman is really giving lots on info on this case, stay tuned it might get interesting
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