Erdogan vows to fight 'parallel state'

Turkey’s Prime Minister vowed on Saturday to fight all parallel entities in Turkey and to hold them accountable for their actions before the law and the Turkish people. “We will find the parallel state wherever it is hiding,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “and we will bring its members before the courts and the people.” He was speaking at the Love Festival in Istanbul.

Erdogan claimed that members of the parallel state in the police and judiciary receive their instructions from foreign elements and not from the Turkish people. He alleged that they are ordered to “damage Turkey” if necessary to achieve their goals.

The prime minister criticised those members of the Turkish gendarmerie and police who forced intelligence officers to lie on the ground before beating them while inspecting a truck they were driving earlier this week. According to Erdogan, the policemen were members of the parallel state.

The Turkish people set the Turkish government’s agenda and course of action, he insisted, amid chants of support from the audience. “Turkey will stand tall and we will not bow our heads to foreign agendas, the media or Turkey’s enemies,” stressed Erdogan. “Turkey is not a puppet state. Turkey is strong with your support and the support of the oppressed people of Egypt, Palestine and Syria.”