Former Istanbul police chief detained in coup attempt probe

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

A former Istanbul police chief was detained on Aug. 30 as a part of the investigation into the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which was accused of orchestrating the failed coup attempt of July 15, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Former Istanbul chief Hüseyin Çapkın was detained at his residence in the Çeşme district of the Aegean province of İzmir. He was transferred to Istanbul for his proceedings.

In addition, police also detained Pendik District Governor Osman Tunç and civil inspectors Gürkan Polat and Yılmaz Tunç in the same operation as a part of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Çapkın was reportedly detained in line with testimony from arrested former Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu. He was also expected to be interrogated over the Dec. 17-25, 2013, graft probe.

Commenting on the reshuffling of some police heads after a plot on National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan as a part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) investigation in 2012, Mutlu said he could not know Çapkın’s close colleagues as well as he did, adding the police chief was the one who was responsible for explaining the motive behind the reshuffling of other police heads. The former governor said he had dismissed the deputy police chief of intelligence after the incident.

Çapkın had been assigned to the central governor’s office following dismissals in the police headquarters during the Dec. 17-25, 2013, graft probe operations. He had been replaced by then Aksaray Governor Selami Altınok, who later served as the interior minister.

Çapkın previously said in an interview that he had not been informed of the graft probe operations.

In early August, Mutlu and another 11 administrative figures had been arrested on charges of being a member of a terror organization.

Among the arrested were seven governors, one deputy governor and three district governors.