By: PressTV
Some 20,000 people have taken to the streets in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in protest at the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has been 
shaken by a corruption scandal.
The protesters gathered at Sihhiye Square in Ankara on Saturday, as the premier arrived from a tour of Asia.
The protesters handed out fake dollars with Erdogan’s photo on them and chanted “revolution will clean this filth” and “they are thieves.”
The corruption probe involving several governmental officials and prominent businessmen has rocked Erdogan’s government and posed the biggest challenge to his 11-year rule.
The investigation broke out on December 17, after Erdogan’s allies were arrested on graft charges.
The Turkish premier was then forced to carry out a major cabinet reshuffle after three of his ministers resigned as their sons were detained in the probe.
Erdogan denounced the probe as a “dirty plot” to undermine his government ahead of the local elections in March and sacked hundreds of police chiefs in a major purge.
The scandal has also affected the country’s economy with the currency, lira, at record lows against the dollar and the value of shares tumbling on the Istanbul stock exchange.
Erdogan has accused US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of instigating the corruption investigation.
Gulen is an influential figure in Turkey and reportedly has many followers in some arms of the country’s state apparatus such as the judiciary, the police and secret services.
Gulen has denied any involvement in Turkey’s recent political crisis.