Baku, Azerbaijan, June 28
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey could have been turned into Egypt if anti-state actions of illegal organizations had not been ceased in time, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on June 28, TRT Haber TV channel reported.
"There are the forces willing to turn Turkey into Syria," Erdogan said.
Erdogan also said that the government will fully struggle with the forces whose actions threaten the security of the country.
Earlier, it was reported that Erdogan accused Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic public figure currently residing in the U.S, of the anti-governmental actions.
On Feb. 25, several Turkish media outlets said the telephone conversations of some 7000 people close to the country's ruling party, opposition parties and Prime Minister's family members, were wiretapped as part of an anti-terrorist operation against members of the 'Salam' organization in 2011.
The telephone conversations of Turkish intelligence head, Hakan Fidan were also wiretapped under these anti-terrorist operations.
After this, Erdogan accused Gulen by saying that representatives of his movement stand behind the wiretapping of the phone conversations.
Erdogan also stressed that Gulen movement, which he earlier called a "parallel structure", proved with its anti-state activities that it is not a religious movement, but a politicized and illegal structure.
Turkish PM called on Gulen not to intervene in Turkey's internal affairs and accused the U.S. of supporting him.
A criminal case has been initiated in Turkey against Fethullah Gulen for his coup attempt and espionage against Turkey.
Erdogan said Gulen will be extradited from the U.S., while the U.S authorities said that Gulen's extradition is out of the question.
Erdogan pointed out that Turkey has launched the legal procedure for Gulen's extradition.