TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan tells supporters that foreign powers and his political opponents are behind a high-level corruption scandal that has forced three ministerial resignations and a cabinet reshuffle

Record ID: 217876

  • Title: TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan tells supporters that foreign powers and his political opponents are behind a high-level corruption scandal that has forced three ministerial resignations and a cabinet reshuffle
  • Date: 28th December 2013
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (DECEMBER 28, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS DEMONSTRATING
  • Embargoed: 12th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEYYBZF3D0J6MEF0BMNMA8SXTZ
  • Story Text: Thousands showed their support for Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a rally in the province of Manisa on Saturday (December 28).
    Erdogan faces a crisis unprecedented during his 11 years in office due to a high-level corruption scandal. The scandal has forced three ministers' resignations and a cabinet reshuffle, and it has destabilised the Turkish economy whose rapid growth has been a showpiece of Erdogan's rule.
    Erdogan said the affair was staged by international powers opposed to a strengthening Turkey.
    "If Turkey gets stronger, it will build up the people. They cannot accept this. International powers are behind this," he told the crowd.
    "Dissemination propaganda has been launched against us. There is a gang, a cabal organising within the state."
    Erdogan still enjoys the loyalty of many pious Muslims and members of Turkey's wealthy elite.
    At the same time, thousands of anti-corruption protesters gathered in the capital Ankara to demonstrate against the government.
    Members of the opposition have called on Erdogan to resign over the corruption scandal.
    Erdogan's AK party controls two-thirds of parliament and pollsters see a modest blow to the party's base but say it could spiral if the scandal gets worse.
    One AK official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, predicted Erdogan could bring forward the scheduled 2015 general election to arrest such a slide.
    The scandal has laid bare rivalry between Erdogan and Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Turkish cleric whose Hizmet (Service) movement claims at least 1 million followers, including senior police officers and judges, and which runs schools and charities across Turkey and abroad.
    While denying any role in the affair, Gulen described Erdogan as suffering "decayed thinking" after the premier portrayed himself as fending off a shadowy international plot.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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