ANKARA

One of the most important messages the Turkish people conveyed through the March 30 polls was the authority given to the government for the full elimination of the parallel state, the prime minister has said, vowing they will not show even tiniest hesitation in doing so.

“The Turkish people gave us the vote of confidence. More importantly, they have given us the instruction to fight against the parallel state. They have given us the instruction for the elimination of this parallel structure whose treachery and espionage have come into the picture,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his parliamentary group on April 8 in his party’s first meeting since the March 30 local polls.

The parallel state is the term the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials are using for the Fethullah Gülen community, or the Hizmet Movement. They accuse the Gülen movement’s members within police and judiciary of plotting against the government.

Erdoğan recalled the illegal listening of a key security meeting at the Foreign Ministry and its leak through social media as one of the latest attempts of espionage at the hands of this parallel state and stressed all measures against the perpetrators will be taken within democracy and the law.

“They will give an account of what they have been doing. But not before the parallel judiciary, but before the people’s judiciary,” he said.

Erdoğan said the Gülen community’s international links and espionage attempts will be scrutinized and informed that he raised the issue in his visit to Azerbaijan last week. He added the government will run after the unregistered economic activities conducted by the Gülen movement and said they will continue to find every Turkish Lira donated to his group.