Turkish government's massive purge of members of the police and judiciary following the eruption of a corruption and bribery scandal continued across the country on Tuesday, Feb 4, with dozens more police officials being removed from their posts, according to Today's Zaman.

The purges are believed to be based on profiling of those who are said to be part of the Hizmet (Service) movement.

All the deputy chiefs at the Diyarbakır Police Department were removed from their post in the latest round of dismissals during an ongoing graft probe on Tuesday. They have been replaced by officials from the police school. Many officers at the police department have been appointed to positions at outposts. The officials that were removed from their jobs have all been appointed to less important posts.

The deputy chief at the anti-terrorism unit of Diyarbakır Provincial Police Department, Ali Gaffar Okan, has been reassigned to a new post as a teacher at the police school. The dismissals at the department are expected to continue in the coming days.

The Eskişehir Police Department also saw dismissals on Tuesday in which four police chiefs, four deputy chiefs and three chief commissioners were removed from their posts, raising the total number of dismissals in the province to 16.

They have been reassigned to different posts. Two chief commissioners at the anti-smuggling and organized crime unit have also been reappointed to the district police department.

The dismissals are reportedly taking place at the order of new Interior Minister Efkan Ala, who was appointed to his position in a Cabinet reshuffle after the corruption investigation broke, replacing former Interior Minister Muammer Güler, whose son was detained on Dec 17 in the first round of the investigation.

Media reports say that the officials who were removed from their duty were ones who conducted major operations against corruption and bribery.

The dismissals of thousands of police officers have also extended to the Prime Minister's office, with 23 security officers being removed from their jobs.

Around 6,000 police officers as well as about 130 prosecutors have been removed from their duties and reassigned to other posts in total since the corruption investigation became public on Dec 17.