Çatalkaya, who replaces former Ankara Police Chief Orhan Özdemir, successfully ran police raids that led to the collapse of the Kurdish Communities Union, Turkey Council (KCK/TM), the urban arm of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He has spent years involved in anti-terrorism efforts and served as Diyarbakır’s police chief for five years before he was assigned to Bursa. He is respected as an experienced anti-terrorism expert. Many note that there were no unsolved murders in Diyarbakır during his term as police chief. The appointment was printed in the Official Gazette yesterday after being approved by President Abdullah Gül.
Çatalkaya, born in Kayseri in 1956, graduated from the Police Academy in 1976. He started his career as a deputy commissary and has served in numerous towns in Turkey, including Malatya, Ankara, İstanbul, Kars and İzmir. He served as the Van police chief between 1998 and 2002, and then as a chief inspector at the National Police Department Inspection Board. He was appointed the Diyarbakır police chief in 2005 and served there until 2009 when he was transferred to Bursa. Çatalkaya is married with three children. His oldest son is also a member of the police force.
Former Ankara Police Chief Özdemir was arrested in early July over allegations of involvement in a tender-rigging operation in the Anatolian city of Kayseri. Özdemir had been detained earlier in the investigation but was released pending trial. The prosecutor filed an appeal of the release ruling in July, leading to an arrest order by the Ankara 11th Criminal Court. Özdemir is being accused of organized fraud in tenders during his tenure as chief of the Kayseri Police Department. He had earlier spent five hours giving testimony to prosecutors and a judge involved in the investigation.
