On Wednesday, the police chiefs of Samsun, Karabük, Kayseri, Kahramanmaraş and Iğdır were removed from office and appointed to other posts. The relocations, made by the Interior Ministry, came on the heels of two recent attacks, one on leader of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) Ahmet Türk and the other on Energy Minister Taner Yıldız.
According to the ministry, Samsun Police Chief Muzaffer Erkan was moved to police general headquarters in Ankara; Karabük Police Chief Hulusi Çelik was appointed to Samsun; Kayseri Police Chief Arif Akkale was appointed to Karabük; Kahramanmaraş Police Chief Cuma Ali Aydın was appointed to Kayseri; and Iğdır Police Chief Mustafa Aydın was appointed to Kahramanmaraş. Chief Inspector Cemil Tonbul was promoted to head the Iğdır Police Department.
Among the appointments, the relocation of the police chiefs in Samsun and Kayseri, the provinces where Türk and Yıldız were punched by assailants, drew scrutiny. The changes for the three other provinces seemed to have happened due to those two.
Türk was punched several times in the face by a man on April 13 while leaving a courthouse in Samsun after attending a hearing and reading a press statement. Yıldız was punched a week later in Kayseri, where he was attending a soldier’s funeral. Both of the men’s noses were broken in the incidents.
Following the attacks, both of the victims have spoken out about the importance of mitigating any possible heightening of tension while drawing attention to the unstated goal of such provocative attacks, to antagonize people and destroy social peace in the country.
