Engin Dinç

The Turkish police force has marked the 179th anniversary of its establishment, with leading chiefs of the organization holding an official ceremony at the mausoleum of modern Türkiye's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Commencing from the beginning of the week, the country's 81 provinces are witnessing official ceremonies for the anniversary.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made 83 appointments within the General Directorate of Security, which has resulted in the replacement of police chiefs in 52 of all 81 provinces across the country.

Among the changes, the police chiefs of 24 other provinces have been transferred to the headquarters.

A Turkish court handed down prison terms to former police chiefs, gendarmerie officers and others linked to FETÖ for a cover-up related to the murder of Hrant Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who was shot dead in front of his Istanbul office in 2007.

Ali Fuat Yılmazer, the former head of Turkey's police intelligence branch, has given his testimony in the 31st hearing into the 2007 killing of Armenian-origin Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, saying the killing was "deliberately not prevented" and security authorities in Istanbul and Trabzon were responsible. 

The recent reshuffle in the police department will lead to an intensification of the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing to completely "uproot the PKK."

New police chiefs have been assigned to 61 provinces across Turkey including İzmir, Adana and Konya, according to a decree published on Oct. 26 in the Official Gazette. The major reshuffle comes as part of sweeping state of emergency decrees just over three months after the failed July 15 military coup attempt.    

Turkey's top police intel chief and two former police intel unit heads may face up to 25 years in prison each in the investigation launched into the murder of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

An Istanbul prosecutor has unearthed files which show that Trabzon police intelligence had known about Ogün Samast, the hitman in Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink?s murder, before the incident took place.

Officers arrested in the murder case of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink have joined the civilian suspects in blaming one-time allies or colleagues for the killing, after the inspection was recently widened.