Hundreds of Turkish police officers sacked from posts in Izmir

Turkey's Izmir Police department removed around 700 police officers from posts, including four deputy chiefs and 70 high-ranking officials, on Thursday amid an ongoing graft investigation by the Turkish authorities, local Today's Zaman reported. Most of the sacked officers were reassigned to less significant positions in the country's police system, according to the report. The four deputy chiefs, who were reportedly involved in a recent anti-corruption investigation into the tender-rigging and fraud at the Izmir Port, were reassigned to some police schools, said the report. Earlier last week, Izmir police Chief Sami Uslu was removed from his post and assigned to a post at the National Police Department on Feb. 11, 2014. On Dec. 17, more than 80 people, including some prominent businessmen close to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and sons of three ministers, were detained as part of the probe into tender fraud and bribery allegations. Soon afterwards, Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan announced their resignation. Prime Minister Erdogan then launched a major cabinet reshuffle. To contain the aftermath of the political turmoil, the Turkish government has sacked around 6,000 police officers across the country.