New governors assigned to Istanbul, Ankara

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Former Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu oversaw harsh police crackdowns on protests while also confounding his Twitter followers with light-hearted tweets.

The governors of Istanbul and Ankara have been changed with a new decree announced early Sept. 16 which also named new heads to the national police force and state broadcaster TRT.
      
With the new amendments, Vasip Şahin, former governor of Malatya, has replaced Hüseyin Avni Mutlu as governor of Istanbul, while Mehmet Kılıçlar, former security director general, has been named as governor of Ankara. Kılıçlar, in turn, has been replaced by Celalettin Lekesiz, the former governor of Hatay.
      
Alaaddin Yüksel, the former governor of Ankara, has retired from office, while Mutlu was recalled to the central governor’s office in Ankara.

Mutlu oversaw the violent police crackdowns during the 2013 Gezi Park protests, but also attracted attention for his often light-hearted Twitter presence.
      
TRT Director General İbrahim Şahin has been appointed governor of Samsun, vacating his post at the top of Turkey’s state broadcaster. A replacement has yet to be named.