Erdogan vows to fight parallel state

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the Fethullah Gulen movement of turning into a political organisation, saying that the group is “no longer religious”.

Speaking to a crowd in the state of Malatya, Erdogan addressed the Gulen movement directly, suggesting: “If you are able, then found your own party and face us.” He added that he would not allow a parallel state to exist inside the Republic of Turkey.

The Turkish premier also stressed that his government, led by the Justice and Development Party, would continue to serve the Turkish people.

The Turkish government accuses the Gulen movement, a shadowy religious group whose leader has lived in the US for the past 15 years, of penetrating the Turkish judiciary and security apparatus to form a parallel state. The movement is thought to be orchestrating the anti-corruption probe launched in December of last year, which has targeted the sons of ministers, senior government officials and business leaders.

Erdogan has repeatedly claimed that, “the corruption probe is a foreign plot which targets the government and the country’s prosperity.”