Türkiye mulls population-based security system for several districts

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has worked on a proposal to appoint senior police department heads — known as "first-class police chiefs" — to several densely populated districts across the country as part of efforts to bolster public safety, media has reported.

According to daily Milliyet, the AKP is working in coordination with the Interior Ministry on a new security architecture that takes population density as its basis.

The move marks the beginning of a revised approach to district-level policing, particularly in areas facing mounting security challenges.

The plan is said to target major urban districts such as Esenyurt in Istanbul, Çankaya in the capital Ankara, Şahinbey in the southeastern province Gaziantep, Osmangazi in the norhwestern city Bursa and Seyhan in Adana in the country’s south — all of which have populations exceeding those of many provinces in Türkiye.

Under the proposal, a number of the approximately 500 first-class police chiefs — who had previously been reassigned to central posts within the ministry for various reasons — will be deployed to these high-density districts to coordinate security operations.

In Türkiye’s police hierarchy, a first-class police chief ranks just below the national police chief, which constitutes the highest rank, and above second-class chiefs, based on seniority and qualifications.

"There is an urgent need to establish a new security model due to the increasing variety, sophistication and complexity of crimes — particularly cyber fraud, which has become a pressing concern in recent years," AKP sources told daily Milliyet.