Police chief blocks probe into commissioner accused of leak

Sources said Anti-Smuggling and Financial Crime Unit officers, who were pursuing Iranian-Azerbaijani businessman Reza Zerrab as part of the secret investigation into the corruption claims, spotted a car outside the house of Zerrab in the Kanlıca neighborhood that belongs to the İstanbul Police Intelligence Department on Nov. 11, more than a month before the corruption raids were carried out.  

Police notified the prosecutors supervising the investigation of the issue. The prosecutors then called Arıbaş to the İstanbul Public Prosecutor's Office to testify as a suspect, accusing him of leaking the investigation documents.

Newly appointed chief of İstanbul Police Department Selami Altınok, however, did not allow Arıbaş to testify. He reportedly said it was not clear what the accusations are and that calling Arıbaş to testify is against regulations.

Last week, authorities appointed Altınok to replace former chief Hüseyin Çapkın amid the graft investigation. Observers interpreted the move as an intervention in the corruption investigation.

Media reports earlier said corruption investigation had to be launched earlier than planned because Muammer Güler, the interior minister, was trying to thwart legal wiretappings of the suspects.   

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office moved up the launch date of the probe to prevent suspects from getting rid of evidence after Güler and his son Barış Güler, who suspected that their phones were being tapped, attempted to stop the operation.  

Nearly 90 people have been taken into custody as part of the probe jointly carried out, in İstanbul and Ankara, by the financial crimes and anti-organized crime departments of the İstanbul Police Department. The sons of Güler, Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar are 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 businessman of Azeri origin Zarrab and bureaucrats from the Environment and Economy ministries.

Reports said that Güler ordered intelligence teams to thwart legal wiretaps and surveillance ordered by prosecutors in charge of the investigation.