Police officer criticized by PM for ordering lahmacun following graft raid relocated

ISTANBUL

A police officer, who was criticized by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for ordering lahmacun following a police raid at the office of ex-environment minister’s son, has been relocated to passive duty, daily Hürriyet reported Jan. 2.

Footage of chief officer Recep Can comfortably sitting on the couch at Abdullah Oğuz Bayraktar’s office, prayer beads in his hands, ordering some lahmacun, a Turkish spicy meat-topped flat bread, dish has surfaced. 

It sparked outcry among ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials, with Erdoğan describing him as a “roughneck.”

Can was reportedly relocated by the Istanbul Police Department Chief Selami Altınok, appointed by the Interior Ministry in controversial circumstances after the launch of the graft raids, to a passive duty in one of Istanbul’s districts, daily Hürriyet said. 

Can’s relocation comes amid a massive purge at the police department following the launch of the raids as part of the graft investigation implicating four government ministers and the chief executive of the state-owned Halkbank on Dec. 17

Abdullah Oğuz Bayraktar, the son of Erdoğan Bayraktar who resigned last week and called on Erdoğan to resign, was released after being briefly detained, unlike the sons of the ex-ministers of interior and economy who still remain under custody.