Gov't Redesign Of Police Department Costs TL 1.2 Billion

The government has spent as much as TL 1.2 billion for a year-long redesign of Turkey's national police force, replacing thousands of officers with those loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan following two separate corruption probes last year, a report has shown.

After corruption investigations of businessmen and senior government officials -- including four former ministers -- went public on Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 of last year, thousands of police officers were removed from their posts and reassigned to other positions because of their alleged links to the Hizmet movement. The movement is inspired by the teachings of Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic scholar who lives in self-imposed exile in the US. The government and its close circles subsequently labeled the graft probes a "coup attempt" and have accused the movement of being behind the investigations, although the movement denies these claims.

A comprehensive report by the Ankara-based Research Center for Security Strategies (GÜSAM) has revealed that the government spent TL 1.2 billion from Treasury reserves for the reshuffling of the police department. Experts say the purge mainly affected the police department's financial, organized crime, smuggling and anti-terrorism units. The costs include compensation payments for the officers removed from their posts and extra spending to train inexperienced replacement staff. Some officers have been permanently banned from the profession, receiving pension payments from the state. The GÜSAM report comes after a separate statement from government sources that announced that the cost of the new presidential palace, dubbed “Ak Saray,” was at least TL 1.3 billion. The report also emphasized that the massive police purge has undermined Turkish security amid regional conflicts.

In addition to the thousands of police officers, the government has also replaced the prosecutors who initiated the Dec. 17 corruption investigation, as well as dozens of officials in various state institutions and others working for public prosecutors' offices.

Zekai Özçınar/Bayram Kaya (Cihan/Today's Zaman)