Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın was dismissed from his post amid bribery scandal, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

"I'm a public officer. I've served for 4 and a half years here [in Istanbul] with honor," he confirmed with a brief statement Thursday, Dec 19.

"But now I'm asked to return to headquarters. Let's hope for the best," Çapkın added.

Istanbul and Ankara police staged morning raids Dec 17 as part of a probe into tender fraud and bribery operation allegations, detaining over 80 people.

There are three members of the Cabinet whose sons are among those detainees; Interior Minister Muammer Güler, Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar and Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan. The suspects are, respectively, Barış Güler, Abdullah Oğuz Bayraktar and Kaan Çağlayan.

Two of Çapkın's assistants, as well as four assistant chiefs, including chiefs involved in the execution of a corruption operation targeting high-profile figures, were also removed from their posts Dec 18.

The dismissal of six police chief deputies came after five police commissioners in the Istanbul Police Department, were discharged from their offices earlier Dec 18 morning.