By Jonny Hogg and Gulsen Solaker
Source: Yahoo News
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday local elections had given him a
mandate to "liquidate" the enemies he sees as contriving a corruption
scandal and would go after their international activities and sources of
funding.
In his first
parliamentary speech since his ruling AK Party dominated March 30
municipal polls, Erdogan said "traitors" responsible for a stream of
graft allegations and the illegal tapping of thousands of phones would
be brought to account.
Erdogan accuses Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally now based
in the United States, of orchestrating the graft scandal to undermine
him. Gulen's Hizmet network claims millions of followers and holds
influence in the police and judiciary.
Erdogan has accused the movement of running a "parallel state", spying
on thousands of government officials over years and leaking manipulated
recordings in a bid to unseat him ahead of last month's elections.
"March 30 is the day when the page was turned on tutelage, when the
monuments of hubris were felled, and the privileges (of an elite) were
lost forever," Erdogan said.
"The nation gave us a mandate for the liquidation of the parallel state.
We will not have the slightest hesitation. We shall never forget the
betrayal," he said.
He said
the government would follow up on what he called the network's
international links and investigate all "illegally collected monies and
donations".
The movement,
also known as Cemaat (JEH-maat), "The Community", has for decades been a
spearhead of Turkish cultural influence and commerce overseas,
especially in the assertive moves into Africa, the Middle East and Asia
in the years after the AK Party took power in 2002.
Cemaat says the Turkish government is already putting pressure on
governments to close down its global network of schools which have been a
major source of influence and revenue. Government officials say Turkish
embassies have stopped backing schools and business linked to Gulen.
Hizmet denies using followers in the police and judiciary to launch a
graft inquiry targeting Erdogan family members, ministers and
businessmen, or any involvement in the illicit recording of top
officials.
"They will answer before the courts. But not in front of their parallel
courts; they will answer before the court of the nation," Erdogan said.
Erdogan has made little secret of his ambition to take up a powerful presidency, but such is his determination to finish the battle with Gulen that it remains unclear whether he will run in the first direct elections for the post in August.
He is barred by AK Party rules from standing for a fourth term as prime
minister, currently a more powerful role than the largely ceremonial
presidency; but the party could amend those rules with relative ease if
it feels his leadership is needed to see out the feud with Gulen, senior
officials have said.
Erdogan
would seek to shape the presidency as a more powerful role than that
played by incumbent Abdullah Gul. Erdogan was quoted on Tuesday as
saying the direct election of the next president would automatically
bestow the role with greater powers.
"The responsibilities will be different after these elections. It will
not be a president of protocol, but one that sweats, runs around, works
hard," he was quoted as saying by the pro-government Sabah newspaper.
Until now, Turkey's parliament has elected the head of state. Gul is a
close Erdogan ally and co-founder of the AK Party, tipped as a possible
prime minister if Erdogan were to run for what he would shape as the top
job.
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