Interior Minister Çiftçi announced plans to increase the number of housing units to improve the accommodation conditions of security personnel serving in Istanbul. Çiftçi said there are 3,350 housing units for 55,000 police officers serving in the city.
Çiftçi said the proportion of police officers benefiting from the existing housing units was approximately 3 percent, adding that vehicle purchases had been limited and resources redirected to housing needs. Çiftçi said they planned to increase the number of housing units in Istanbul to 5,000 in the short term.
The POLSAN model for police housing
Çiftçi said a new model had been introduced through the Police Maintenance and Assistance Fund to enable police officers to own homes while paying installments comparable to rent. Ankara and Istanbul were designated as the first pilot areas for the implementation.
According to information provided by Çiftçi, POLSAN purchased 86 decares of land from the Housing Development Administration in Ankara. The construction of 2,000 homes is planned on the site.
Çiftçi said construction was planned to begin in January and that the homes would be sold to police personnel at cost through long-term installments. The implementation is planned to be expanded to other major cities at a later stage.
Applicants without a home, whose spouses do not work, whose children attend school and who have a greater need for housing will be given priority.
The 12-36 work system is being implemented in 56 provinces
Çiftçi announced that the 12-36 work system had begun to be implemented as part of regulations concerning the working conditions of security personnel. He said the system had been introduced in 56 provinces as of September, while transition efforts in 15 provinces had reached their final stage.
Çiftçi said planning was continuing in the other provinces, adding that the 12-36 system could not be implemented in every unit because of the nature of the duties. He said work was under way on financial regulations to compensate personnel working continuously on a 24-hour basis for any loss of rights.
Operations targeting criminal organizations
Çiftçi announced that 1,592 operations had been conducted against 562 criminal organizations over an eight-and-a-half-month period and that 6,916 people had been arrested and sent to prison. He said the operations targeted organizations operating at international, national, regional and local levels.
Çiftçi said members of criminal organizations attempted to direct their connections in Türkiye through digital channels after fleeing to countries that allow travel with identity cards. He said red notices or diffusion notices had been issued in coordination with Interpol and Europol to apprehend the suspects.
Çiftçi said 409 people who had committed crimes in 53 countries and come to Türkiye were apprehended during the same period in 2026, including 90 leaders or members of organized criminal organizations. During the same period of the previous year, 372 people from 48 countries were apprehended, including 108 leaders or members of organized criminal organizations.
Providing information on extradition processes, Çiftçi announced that 657 people from 44 countries had been extradited to Türkiye during the first eight months of 2026. Çiftçi said the number had risen to 684 with those who arrived in the past 15 days, adding that 162 organized crime leaders or members were among those extradited.
Wanted persons and the fight against drug trafficking
Çiftçi said 147,214 people were apprehended during the same period in 2026 in operations targeting fugitives with finalized prison sentences or arrest warrants. He said this figure was approximately 10,000 higher than the total of 137,664 recorded during the same period of the previous year.
Çiftçi said an average of 599 wanted people were apprehended each day and that they were sent to prison to serve their sentences.
Çiftçi said 434,026 people were being held in prisons, including 112,000 convicted of drug-related offenses. He said 37,506 operations targeting drugs were conducted during the eight months of 2026 and that 31,754 people were arrested.
During the same period, 35 tons of drugs, 87 million drug pills, and 19 million cannabis and skunk plants were seized. The number of operations targeting loan sharks was announced as 1,040.
Çiftçi said the total value of money, vehicles, companies and financial assets seized as proceeds of crime in efforts against smuggling, organized crime and financial crimes amounted to 145 billion lira. He said the operations would continue.
Work concerning stray animals
Çiftçi announced that 99.22 percent of stray street animals across Türkiye had been collected. He said the work had been completed in 78 provinces, while the process was continuing in Istanbul, Izmir and Diyarbakır.
Çiftçi said the work in Antalya was targeted for completion by the end of the month, the process in Istanbul by October 15, and the work in Diyarbakır by the end of October. He said the issue was planned to be removed from Türkiye’s agenda by the end of October.
Counterterrorism and regional security
Çiftçi said the process being carried out toward the goal of a “Terror-Free Türkiye” was continuing with the determination of state policy. He said the process had institutional and legal dimensions, adding that the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye had held 21 meetings with different segments of society.
Çiftçi said the “Terror-Free Türkiye” and “terror-free region” visions were discussed during a meeting in Ankara with Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni. He said regional security directly concerned the areas of Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Çiftçi said the PKK-affiliated PYD/YPG in Syria had embarked on a path toward dissolving itself and integrating into the system. He said the pace of the process would depend on the organization surrendering its weapons and complying with the established timetable and legal framework.
Security proposals for the Organization of Turkic States
Çiftçi also assessed the third meeting of the Interior Ministers of the Organization of Turkic States, held in Kazakhstan, and announced that they had submitted proposals to institutionalize security cooperation within the organization.
Çiftçi said the next meeting would be held in Türkiye and that he had proposed establishing a Council for Combating Crime within the organization. He said plans called for a “Turkpol” mechanism, similar to Interpol and Europol, to be established as the council’s executive body.
Çiftçi said the Turkpol mechanism was intended to help identify, apprehend, extradite and deport suspects who flee to member countries. He added that intelligence and information sharing would accelerate judicial cooperation.
Çiftçi said joint passport control points had also been discussed at the meeting and that the European Union’s practice had been taken as a model.
Security measures around schools
Çiftçi said security measures around schools had been increased with the start of the new academic year. He said police officers were permanently assigned to schools classified as first- and second-degree risks, while police liaison officers who communicate with schools were serving at third- and fourth-degree risk schools.
Çiftçi said 31,000 personnel had been recruited to work in schoolyards using the 31,000 positions provided by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. He said these personnel monitored entrances and exits and prevented unauthorized people from entering school grounds.
Çiftçi said approximately 3,500 people were detained in operations conducted on the day schools opened. He added that seven ministries had prepared a joint protocol concerning children’s safety.
Virtual patrols and traffic inspections
Çiftçi announced that virtual patrols had identified approximately 177,000 accounts considered to contain criminal elements. He said the figure was 46 percent higher than the 121,405 accounts recorded during the same period of the previous year, adding that access bans and closure measures had been imposed on internet pages and social media accounts used in or praising crime.
Çiftçi said approximately 121 million traffic inspections had been conducted during the first eight months of the year, including 10 million motorcycle inspections. He said a decline in fatal traffic accidents had been observed following the new regulation.
Çiftçi said 18 million administrative sanctions had been imposed last year following 86 million inspections conducted from February 27 onward. He said the number of inspections had increased by approximately 10 million this year, while the number of vehicles receiving fines had declined. Çiftçi announced that violations known as lane weaving had decreased by 93 percent.
Target of an 18-minute response in the fight against fraud
Çiftçi said the Ministry of Justice, chief public prosecutor’s offices, the police and the gendarmerie were working together to combat fraud. He said the “Dolunay Project,” prepared by the Gendarmerie General Command, planned to conduct artificial intelligence-assisted data analysis following a report.
Çiftçi said a center including a prosecutor and bank representatives would be established under the project. He said the target was to analyze the case within 18 minutes of the phone being answered and the crime being committed and block the money transferred by the fraudsters.
