Some 19,000 police officers including 70 chiefs of police and 350 superintendents were notified to prepare for deployment to the Eastern provinces of Turkey for "mandatory eastern posts" after the General Directorate of the Police Department sent an official letter detailing the move to the Istanbul Police Department Hurriyetdailynews reported.
In the letter issued today, 19,000 policemen were asked to choose a province to be appointed to and file their excuses to reject such an appointment and stay in Istanbul, if applicable.
When the procedures are completed, the appointments will be announced May 1.
In the same term last year, 18,000 police were notified of the appointment but only 2,500 were sent to the east of the country.
Mandatory Eastern posts aim to send various public service personnel, including security forces and healthcare and education workers, to the development-needy region.