Turkey Reassigns 69 Police Chiefs in Major Reshuffle

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a decree published in the Official Gazette on 18 September 2026 ordering 69 duty changes across the General Directorate of Security. The reshuffle affects both headquarters and provincial units nationwide.

Thirty-nine provincial police chiefs were reassigned to new posts while 24 incumbents were recalled to the central directorate in Ankara. The changes took effect immediately upon publication.

Key appointments include Sinan Ergen moving from Zonguldak to Kayseri, İbrahim Kaba from Batman to Zonguldak, and Celal Özcan from Gaziantep to Kocaeli. Faruk Karaduman shifts from Kocaeli to Aydın, while Ahmet Arıbaş goes from Samsun to İzmir.

Headquarters officials were also deployed to the field: Serdar Büyükleblebici, head of the Smuggling and Organized Crime Department, becomes Gaziantep police chief; Yusuf Topcan, Counterterrorism Department chief, takes Yalova; and Gökhan Demirtola, External Relations Department chief, is appointed to Afyonkarahisar.

Four senior officers were promoted to deputy general director posts: Emrullah Gölcük, İsmail Hakkı Günay, Ali Karabağ, and Selçuk Doğuş. Onur Karaburun leaves Erzurum to lead the Private Security Inspection Board.

The decree also names new police chiefs for Bartın, Karabük, and Batman from the ranks of police chief inspectors. Yalova's former director Yılmaz Delen was recalled to headquarters amid reports linking him to the Gülistan Doku case.