ISTANBUL: Istanbul’s powerful police chief has been dismissed, according to local media, over an anti-corruption action striking at the heart of Turkey’s ruling elite and threatening the authority of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at home and abroad.

Huseyin Capkin was the most senior commander so far to be sacked following the dismissal of dozens of senior officers on Wednesday over what Erdogan has termed a “dirty operation” to tarnish the government.

Scores of people including sons of three ministers and some prominent businessmen close to Erdogan have been detained in an action seen widely as symptom of a power struggle with a US-based cleric who wields influence in police and judiciary.

“Just as we were appointed, now we are leaving,” Capkin was quoted as saying by Hurriyet daily. “I have been removed from my post. I was appointed a governor at the Interior Ministry.”

Erdogan’s AKP was created in 2001 from a coalition of conservative religious, centrist and nationalist politicians. It swept to power in 2002, drawing on fury over corruption and economic incompetence. Turks have seen unprecented prosperity since then, but underlying perceptions of graft remain.

“Corruption in Turkey is the Achilles Heel of the AK Party,” Writer and columnist Cengiz Candar said. “It also undermines their approach toward their morality, which is grounded on Islam.

“Corruption has an important impact in terms of determining the success of ruling parties at the ballot box.”

Erdogan said he would not tolerate corruption, but saw in the raids a conspiracy to “create a state within the state.”

“We will definitely unveil this organization,” he said.

Erdogan has reshaped Turkish foreign policy, with strong diplomatic forrays into Middle Eastern affairs and a more assertive relationship with the United States and NATO allies. He won great personal popularity as a model for an Islamic democracy, though that has faded in such countries as Egypt.

Professor Mehmet Altan at Istanbul University suggests Erdogan may be trying to fend off a broader corruption scandal to avoid being tarred with the same brush as his predecessors.