Selami Altınok (born 20 January 1966) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

civil servant and politician who served as the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the interim election government formed by Prime Minister

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...

between 28 August and 17 November 2015. He previously served as the 10th Governor of Aksaray from 2012 to 2014 and was appointed as the General Director of Security in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

on 16 December 2013. He is also a former

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

(sub-governor). A member of the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

, he was elected to the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

in the 2023 parliamentary election from

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

Early life and career

Selami Altınok was born in 1966 in

Narman Narman (; ka, ნარიმანი), formerly Namervan and İd, is a municipality and district of Erzurum Province, Turkey. Its area is 799 km2, and its population is 12,292 (2022). The mayor is Aydemir Adem Kinalı ( AKP). Composition ...

and graduated from Department of Public Administration in

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

Faculty of Political Sciences in 1988. He was later appointed as the Deputy

to the district of

Akkışla Akkışla is a municipality and district of Kayseri Province, Turkey. Its area is 371 km2, and its population is 5,563 (2022). Composition There are 15 neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American Engl ...

and went on to become the Kaymakam of

Almus Almus is a town in Tokat Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Almus District Almus District is a district of the Tokat Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Almus.Güroymak Güroymak (, from , ''Norshen'') is a town in Bitlis Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Güroymak District.Erciş Erciş (; ; , historically , ''Arčeš'') is a municipality and district of Van Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,133 km2, and its population is 171,000 (2022). It is located at the northern end of Lake Van. History of Artchesh During Cl ...

Terme Terme (formerly spelled ''Termeh''; Ancient Greek: Thèrmae, Θέρμαι) is a municipality and district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Its area is 548 km2, and its population is 71,092 (2022). Terme is located on Terme River, about 5 k ...

and

Serik Serik is a municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,263 km2, and its population is 139,545 (2022). It is east of the city of Antalya, along the Mediterranean coast. Geography Towards the coast the district is ma ...

. After serving as a Kaymakam, he became the General Secretary of the

Special Provincial Administration.

Governor of Aksaray

Altınok was appointed as the 10th Governor of Aksaray by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, with his appointment being validated by the

Turkish government The Government of Turkey () is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party system. The term government can me ...

and the President

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th president of Turkey from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister of Turkey, Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently s ...

on 2 August 2012. He served in this position until 16 February 2014, after which he was appointed as a Central Governor with no responsibility.

Istanbul General Director of Security

Following a series of police raids on the homes of numerous businessmen and the sons of four cabinet ministers as part of a government corruption scandal, the serving Istanbul General Director of Security who had ordered the operations,

Hüseyin Çapkın Hüseyin Çapkın (born 1951) is a Turkish civil servant. He was lately the police chief of Istanbul Province. Early life He was born 1951 at Akyurt village of Tire district in İzmir Province to a farmer's family. After completing his primar ...

, was removed from his post. In his government's defence, Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

had accused the perpetrators of the anti-corruption operation to be sympathisers of the

Gülen Movement The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...

and would be removed from their positions. After the controversial removal of Çapkın from office, Altınok was appointed as the new General Director of Security for Istanbul.

Tape recording scandal

While serving as the Istanbul General Director of Security, a recording of a phone call between Altınok and the then-Undersecretary to the Interior Ministry (later Interior Minister)

Efkan Ala Efkan Ala (born 21 February 1965) is a Turkish politician and former civil servant who served as the Minister of the Interior from November 2015 to August 2016;. He previously held the same post from 2013 to June 2015 despite not being a member ...

was leaked on the Internet, allegedly by the

. In the alleged phone call, Altınok could be heard saying that 'they would violently crush the heads of any dissident'. The released recordings, which targeted numerous government ministers and supporters, were dismissed as fakes by the then-Prime Minister

Minister of the Interior

After the June 2015 general election resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

, unsuccessful coalition negotiations raised speculation over whether President

would call an early election in the event that AKP leader

was unable to form a government within the given constitutional time of 45 days. As required by the 114th article of the

Constitution of Turkey The Constitution of Turkey, formally known as the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye (), and informally as the Constitution of 1982 (), is Turkey's fundamental law. It establishes the organization of the government, and sets out the pr ...

, the calling of a snap general election by the President necessitates the forming of an interim election government, in which all parties represented in Parliament are given a certain number of ministers according to how many MPs they have. If a party refused to send ministers to the interim cabinet, then independents must take their place. When going into an election, the Constitution requires that the partisan ministers responsible for the Interior, for Justice and for Transport to resign from their positions and to be replaced by independent civil servants three months before polling day. As a result, the Interior Ministry was already administered by the independent former Undersecretary,

Sebahattin Öztürk Sebahattin Öztürk (born 1 July 1962) is a Turkish politician, civil servant and bureaucrat who served as the Minister of the Interior of Turkey between March and August 2015. Previously the Undersecretary to the Interior Ministry since 2014, ...

, since 7 March 2015. When the interim cabinet was announced, Altınok was announced as the new independent

on 28 August 2015. He is known for being close to the former AKP Interior Minister

Efkan Âlâ Efkan Ala (born 21 February 1965) is a Turkish politician and former civil servant who served as the Minister of the Interior from November 2015 to August 2016;. He previously held the same post from 2013 to June 2015 despite not being a member ...

, who resigned as required by the Constitution on 7 March 2015.

References

External links

Collection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altinok, Selami 1966 births Living people People from Narman Members of the 63rd government of Turkey Turkish civil servants Governors of Aksaray Ministers of the interior of Turkey Istanbul University alumni Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians People from Erzurum Province