Presidency denies claims of stalling police chief replacements

“The reports in the Turkish media claiming that our presidency has been sending back the decrees to replace some provincial police chiefs without signing them are groundless,” said the statement.

The statement also said that the presidency has not received decrees to replace police chiefs since the appointment of provincial police chiefs on May 21, 2013.

In recent months, claims surfaced that the government was trying to reshuffle top police officers. Following a recent graft probe, dozens of officers have been replaced.

Tuesday's detention of 52 people, including bureaucrats, well-known businessmen and the sons of three ministers, 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 the police chiefs involved with the corruption probe.