Gov’t looks into Hatay police scandal

HATAY/ANKARA

Two Interior Ministry inspectors have been dispatched to begin an official investigation, after an incident in which the son of a ruling party deputy allegedly lined up police officers in the southern province of Hatay after becoming involved in a dispute with police.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has also launched its own investigation of Hatay Deputy Hacı Bayram Türkoğlu, whose son was allegedly involved in the incident. The party will submit a report to the ministry after its inquiries are complete. The two inspectors, Battal Gazi Örümcek and Oktay Kılıç, arrived in Hatay yesterday and have begun to examine the evidence of the incident, which took place in mid-June. They began by watching video records from the police station where police officers were allegedly lined up in front of a wall so that Türkoğlu’s son could identify the officers he had argued with. The incident was discussed during Tuesday’s AKP Central Decision-Making Council (MKYK), with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instructing the relevant party bodies to investigate the incident. No decision was made to bring Türkoğlu before the party’s disciplinary board, as the party chose not to rush to take an action against the deputy.

Türkoğlu and his son also visited the party Tuesday to explain the incident, but Erdoğan refused to meet with the deputy. It has been learned that Türkoğlu admitted that he had made some mistakes, but that they were not deliberate, and that he is ready to resign.