Istanbul ( CNN ) -- In what appears to be a broader government purge of Turkey 's police force , 350 police officers were removed from their positions in the capital of Ankara on Tuesday . Police commanders were also removed from their posts in at least nine other cities around the country , the semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported . According to Turkish state media reports , most of the police officers affected were working in departments that battle terrorism , smuggling and organized crime . `` The majority of the chiefs and police in question were appointed to the traffic unit , '' state broadcaster TRT reported on its website . The mass reassignment of police officers came amid reports of a fresh wave of police raids targeting suspects in a corruption case in the port city of Izmir . The Turkish government first began firing and reassigning scores of police officers last month , after police detained dozens of suspects closely linked to the government in an anti-corruption investigation . Amid corruption inquiry , Turkish prosecutor slams police . Police reportedly found large amounts of cash and a money counting machine in the home of the son of the interior minister , as well as shoe boxes full of cash in the residence of the director of the state-owned HalkBank . On December 25 , at least four Cabinet ministers implicated in the corruption scandal were forced to resign as part of a larger Cabinet reshuffle . Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the investigation . He has repeatedly said it is part of an `` international conspiracy '' aimed at toppling his government . Erdogan also criticized police who carried out the raids , accusing them of operating outside the chain of command . The government removed several prosecutors overseeing the investigation and briefly banned journalists from entering police stations . In a highly unusual news conference last month , one of those prosecutors accused the government of obstructing the investigation and allowing suspects to flee and tamper with evidence . Turkish police fire plastic bullets as anti-government protests rage . Other observers are sounding the alarm about the independence of the judiciary in Turkey , which is both a member of the NATO military alliance and a nation that 's negotiating to join the European Union . `` The future of law enforcement , the separation of powers , the constitution is in danger , '' said Suat Kiniklioglu , a former member of parliament from Erdogan 's ruling Justice and Development Party . Kiniklioglu said the purge of the police force was part of the broader power struggle under way in Turkey between Erdogan and one of his former allies , a Turkish Muslim cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania . `` The government is trying to remove police officers it thinks are close to the Fethullah Gulen group from positions where they could launch investigations into other corruption cases , '' Kiniklioglu told CNN . Gulen is the spiritual leader of an international empire of universities , businesses and media organizations . Until recently , he and his movement provided influential support to Erdogan during the prime minister 's decade in power . Throughout this political alliance , some supporters of the reclusive cleric are believed to have assumed key positions in the Turkish police and judiciary . Last month 's arrests turned simmering tensions between Erdogan and Gulen into an open verbal war between the two most charismatic leaders of moderate political Islam in Turkey . Erdogan and his deputies have openly denounced what they call a parallel state operating within the Turkish government bureaucracy . Gulen has responded in a fiery video sermon announcing , `` Those who do n't see the thief but go after those trying to catch the thief , who do n't see the murder but try to defame others by accusing innocent people , then may God bring fire to their houses , ruin their homes , break their unity . '' The scandal has rattled Turkish markets . This week , the Turkish lira plunged to a record low against the dollar .
NEW : News agency says officers removed in Ankara and at least nine other Turkish cities . Most of the purged police `` were appointed to the traffic unit , '' state broadcaster reports . The mass reassignments come amid reports of new police raids in a corruption case . Firings , reassignments began after police detained dozens in anti-corruption case last month .