Avcı was arrested in late September over links to the Revolutionary Headquarters, a leftist terrorist organization behind a deadly attack that took place in İstanbul in 2009. Avcı is also charged with violating the secrecy of an investigation. Police had discovered audio clips featuring phone conversations of 53 people, including some of the country’s leading figures, at Avcı’s Eskişehir home. The police chief was suspended from the police department by the Interior Ministry after the launch of an investigation into his alleged links with the Revolutionary Headquarters.
The Interior Ministry also launched an internal probe into Avcı’s suspected links with the terrorist group and ministry inspectors have completed a report on him. The inspectors demanded Avcı’s expulsion from the police department.
The inspectors’ report is expected to be reviewed by the National Police Department’s High Disciplinary Board. The board will have the final say on the sentence to be handed down to Avcı.
The inspectors’ inquiry also brought new allegations against Avcı. They found Avcı had violated the law by giving his wife, Şenay Avcı, the use of an official car during his term as the head of the Eskişehir Police Department. He also allegedly used his own official car for personal business. Avcı is still under arrest and jailed at Silivri Prison on suspected links to the Revolutionary Headquarters, which was also behind the bombing of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) İstanbul provincial branch building and a mortar attack in İstanbul’s Üsküdar district that injured three civilians in 2008. A police investigation revealed that a possible target of the Üsküdar attack was the Selimiye military barracks. However, the mortar did not reach the barracks, creating the appearance that the shells were directed at another location.
