Turkish interior minister replaced by anti-US figure after surprise resignation

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala announced his surprise resignation on Wednesday evening and was swiftly replaced by Labour and Social Security Minister Suleyman Soylu.

Soylu was one of the first high-ranking Turkish officials to suggest US involvement in the failed 15 July coup attempt.

The announcement followed a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Ala was in charge of the interior ministry during the failed coup attempt, as well as the ensuing crackdown against followers of the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, the man accused of masterminding the coup.

Under his watch, Turkey has witnessed multiple attacks from both the Islamic State (IS) group and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The latest of these attacks took place at a Kurdish wedding party in the southeastern city of Gaziantep and killed 51 people. Turkish police have yet to catch those responsible.

Various government officials have blamed IS, with the president claiming a 12 to 14-year-old child was forced to carry out the attack. 

Ala was first appointed interior minister on 26 August 2013 and served until 7 March 2015, when the peace process with the PKK first began to break down.

He was reappointed interior minister on 24 November 2015 after the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party won a snap election and formed a majority government.

Many Turks are angry at the intelligence failings they feel allowed the attempted coup to take place, one that killed 241 of their fellow citizens.

There have been also been at least eight major terrorist attacks during his second stint in the job, explaining the unsympathetic reaction from many Turkish social media users to his surprise resignation.

“If Efkan Ala had cleaned up the security apparatus, 15 July would have been very different,” wrote on Turkish Twitter user.

“It wasn't my father who appointed so many Feto governors and police chiefs!” wrote another, continuing the same theme, “I hope he will be held accountable for all appointments under him right up to the tea boy.”

Five days after the failed coup attempt, a three-month state of emergency was declared that expanded the powers of the interior ministry.

A dinner was also held on Wednesday evening at the prime ministry where all ministers, past and present, of the AKP were invited. Ala was not present.

As an Erdogan loyalist and vocal opponent of the Gulen movement, most commentators in the country have not linked his resignation to the ongoing crackdown on Gulen’s followers.