Turkish main opposition leader's guard chief forced to retire over 'lack of cadres'

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's guard chief Koray Aslan was forced to retire over "a lack of cadres."

Aslan, who is known with his efforts to save Kılıçdaroğlu from a lynching attempt in the Çubuk district of the capital Ankara in April 2019, is among the 78 police chiefs from various rankings who were forced to retire.

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A group attempted to lynch Kılıçdaroğlu during the funeral of a soldier and threw rocks at him. He then took refuge in a house in the area and had to wait indoors for hours before being evacuated.

The decision to retire Aslan was adopted during a meeting chaired by Security General Directorate head Mehmet Aktaş, during which authorities discussed the retirement situations of a total of 319 police officers. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu approved the list on June 6 and cited the reason as the lack of cadres.

Sabri Yıldız, the guard chief of Ahmet Davutoğlu during his prime ministry, was also forced to retire.

Davutoğlu resigned from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) last year and founded the opposition Future Party.