Published on Jan 16, 2014
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the country’s ambassadors to reveal the truth about a graft probe that has shaken his administration.
“We expect you to exert more effort to defeat this treacherous operation targeting Turkey by telling our partners the truth,” Erdogan told a conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara on Wednesday.
Erdogan accused US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen of establishing an “empire of fear” in the Turkey’s judiciary and police.
He urged Turkish diplomats to tell their counterparts about the true colors of the Gulen movement and the dimensions of its danger.
The premier also accused Gulen’s supporters of outright treachery over what he called a coup plot in the form of a high-level corruption probe.
“They are trying to deal a heavy blow to Turkey’s economy. They are making efforts to push interest rates higher. In order to make international investors uneasy they use every means,” Erdogan said, adding, “Most importantly, they are working hard to harm Turkey’s image in the world.”
On December 17, 2013, Turkish authorities launched a corruption probe that led to the arrests of several business allies of Erdogan, as well as the sons of former ministers.
Erdogan has 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.
Last month, Erdogan’s top political advisor Yaljin Akdogan suggested that military officers convicted of plotting to overthrow Erdogan’s government had been framed by the same prosecutors who launched the corruption probe.