Prosecutor Cihan Kansız has been appointed head of the judiciary’s Ergenekon investigation, replacing Zekeriya Öz, who was reassigned in the wake of recent controversy over the arrests of journalists in connection to the coup-plot case.

Kansız, who is best known for his work on the murder case of assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist, Agos newspaper editor Hrant Dink and his recent investigation into the attempted murder of arabesque singer İbrahim Tatlıses, is a member of the Judges and Prosecutors’ Association, or YARSAV, an organization that has fiercely criticized the Ergenekon investigation on a number of occasions.

The new prosecutor’s deputy will be Ufuk Emertcan, who will replace Öz’s number two, Ercan Şafak.

Öz and Şafak were promoted to serve as deputies to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor, but they have lost their special authorities to deal with the Ergenekon investigation, Hurriyet Daily News reported.