Turkey’s Prime Minister accused political enemies of hacking encrypted state communications to fake a phone conversation suggesting he warned his son to hide large sums of money before police raids in a graft inquiry that reached into government.
In a dramatic session of Parliament after the posting of an 11-minute audio tape on YouTube, Tayyip Erdogan described it as a shameless, treacherous “montage”.
He did not name those he held responsible but made it clear he was talking of a network run by former ally, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.
The head of the main parliamentary opposition insisted the conversation was genuine, telling Erdogan: “My advice to you is either flee the country, take your helicopter, or resign.”
Supporters of Erdogan, locked in a power struggle with Gulen whom he accuses of contriving a graft scandal to topple him, chanted “Tayyip, we came here to die with you” and “time is on our side”.
“The people don’t believe these lies,” Erdogan called back to loud cheers and applause from the public gallery.
Political tensions further stirred by the recordings, which Reuters could not authenticate, hit Turkish assets amid broader weakness in emerging markets.
Gulen, through his lawyer, has described the accusation of complicity in the tapes as unjust and contributing to an atmos-phere of “hatred and enmity” in Turkish society.
Opinion polls taken before Monday’s posting show Erdogan’s popularity little affected by the corruption scandal which broke on December 17 with the detention of businessmen close to him and three ministers’ sons. Monday’s tape will prove a further test of that resilience ahead of March local elections.
But the invective of debate could yet work in Erdogan’s favour at the polls. He took over a country in 2002 that was mired in political factionalism and economic crisis.
Presenting the welcome face of a strong leader, he united a wide spectrum of forces, fired the economy, drove economic reform and tamed generals who had toppled four governments in the latter 20th century.
“They went and made a shameless montage and released it,” Erdogan told deputies.
“They are even listening to the state’s encrypted telephones. That’s how low they are. There is no allegation we cannot answer.”
The “they” cited by Erdogan was a reference to those among the followers of US-based Islamic cleric Gulen he accuses of building a “parallel state” using influence in the judiciary and police. Gulen denies the accusation.
“We will reveal one-by-one the disgraces of the parallel organisation and we will make those who walk with them so embarrassed they won’t be able to go on to the street,” he said.