ANKARA, Turkey, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The Turkish government fired or reassigned 800 police officers on Thursday in response to a far-reaching graft probe.
A total of 500 police officers in Ankara and 274 in Izmir were removed from their positions Thursday. The police purge also included senior officers.
The firings and reassignments are the latest in a series of actions taken against police and government ministers following the December 2013 announcement of a corruption investigation into Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's political and business allies.
Erdogan has denied involvement in the graft scandal and asserted that he and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) are the victims of the police department's and judiciary's "parallel state," and has accused them of orchestrating the probe.
[Hurriyet Daily News]
