LIVE UPDATES

18:41 - 15 police chiefs removed at Antalya Police Department

In yet another purge, the government removed 15 police chiefs at the Antalya Police Department on Monday. The police chiefs were appointed to different posts.

This constitutes the latest of a series of firings and position changes in the police amid an ongoing major corruption scandal involving four ministers and the sons of three ministers.

16:00 - İstanbul police chief accused of leaking graft probe documents

İstanbul Police Intelligence Department Chief Ahmet Arıbaş was summoned to a courthouse as “suspect” to testify about an accusation that he leaked corruption investigation documents. Newly appointed İstanbul Police Chief Selami Altınok later blocked the move.

14:50 - Authorities remove two more police officials in Ankara

Following the dismissals of dozens of police chiefs from their posts in several provinces after the anti-corruption operation began last week, two deputy police chiefs were removed from their posts in the Ankara Police Department on Monday.

İsmail Öztürk and Lokman Kırcılı's dismissals came only five days after their assignment to the posts from which they were removed on Monday.

13:39 - Lawyers demand annulment of decree forcing police chiefs to inform superiors

The Turkish Bar Association (TBB) has demanded the Council of State cancel a government decree issued late on Friday night that requires police chiefs to notify their superiors of any investigation launched by prosecutors.

The decree came into effect on Saturday and requires that police chiefs who are assigned to work with prosecutors in a probe inform their superiors, including city police chiefs and governors, before launching an investigation.

The decree was passed following the highly publicized corruption and bribery case which has rocked Turkey since last Tuesday.

The TBB said the new decree violates the privacy of investigations and asked the Council of State to review it.

Prosecutors currently working on a file are also required to inform the chief public prosecutor in that city.

13:35- Ironsmith in eastern Turkey files complaint against two ministers

An ironsmith in Diyarbakır province filed a complaint against two ministers implicated in the corruption investigation which has resulted in the detention of Baris Güler, the son of Interior Minister Muammer Güler and Kaan Çağlayan, son of Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan, as well as the chief executive of the state-owned Halkbank, Suleyman Aslan, on Monday.

Zülkif Yıldırım, who makes a living as an ironsmith in Diyarbakır province, submitted a complaint petition to the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor's Office against Interior Minister Güler and EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bağış, who were allegedly involved in the tender rigging and bribery. The details of the complaint have not been revealed.

The petition was later sent to İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

The allegation that four Cabinet ministers had hands in corruption along with dozens detained as part of the graft probe has become a cause of outrage among the public.

12:30 - Turkey's Halkbank says Iran business complies with law

Halkbank's dealings with sanctions-hit Iran are entirely lawful, the Turkish state-run lender said on Monday after its chief executive was arrested in a corruption probe denounced by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a foreign plot.

Halkbank's Iranian business ties had drawn Western disapproval amid US-led efforts to curb Tehran's disputed nuclear program. Erdoğan described the police crackdown on the bank and a wider investigation last week as a foreign-engineered "dirty operation" against him.

"There was no domestic or international rule or ban that prevented the sale of precious metals to Iran up until July 1, 2013," the bank said in a statement, adding that it had stopped such transactions as of June 10.

Halkbank had also been processing a portion of India's payments for Iranian oil.

"The source of the funds used in these transactions and the parties to this trade are open, transparent and traceable in the system," it said in the statement.

12:00 - Wiretapping body chief removed

Authorities removed the chief of Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) on Monday as it continues to dismiss police officials involved in the corruption raids.

Senior police officials, including İstanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın, were removed from their posts on Thursday amid an ongoing investigation into alleged bribery linked to public tenders, while jurists said their removal amounted to an attempted cover-up and a “blatant intervention” in the judicial investigation. Ankara Governor Selami Altınok has become the new police chief for İstanbul.

The detention of over 50 people, including bureaucrats, well-known businesspeople and the sons of three ministers, on Tuesday as part of a major investigation into alleged bribery linked to public tenders and money laundering came as a bombshell in the Turkish media. Barış Güler, the son of Interior Minister Muammer Güler, Salih Kaan Çağlayan, the son of Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Abdullah Oğuz Bayraktar, the son of Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar, and Fatih Mayor Mustafa Demir were all detained in the investigation. Following these detentions, the government began to dismiss all police chiefs involved in the corruption probe.

Following the removal of 11 police chiefs from their posts in İstanbul on Wednesday due to their involvement in the corruption raids, which the authorities have called “misconduct,” the Ankara governor also removed 18 police chiefs in a similar fashion and reappointed them to lower positions. The dismissals then spread to the western province of İzmir to include Mehmet Erikoğlu, chief of the anti-organized crime police branch, Emin Göktaş, chief of the financial crime branch and Halil İbrahim Güzel, chief of the anti-terror branch all being removed from their positions. İzmir Governor Mustafa Toprak said there have also been further replacements.

Two members of the police department, including a police chief, have been removed from their posts in Kocaeli province, adding to the list of those dismissed in the wake of the graft probe. The chief of the anti-smuggling and anti-organized crime unit, Mehmet Ağzıbağlı, and his deputy Abdulkadir Demir have been removed from Kocaeli Police Department following the dismissals and shifts in the police departments of İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir. Ağzıbağlı was appointed to a new post as chief of the education branch and has been replaced by Ayhan Karakoyun, who was the chief of the foreigners' branch in the department. Hakan Başkal became the new deputy in the anti-smuggling branch after Demir's removal from his post.

In addition, media outlets reported that three more police chiefs were dismissed in Bursa province while two others were sacked in Trabzon province. The dismissals are expected to expand to 20 other provinces in the coming days.