Turkey: Rift With US-Based Cleric Widens
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's embattled prime minister on Saturday ratcheted up the rhetoric against a U.S.-based Muslim cleric seen as a threat to his government, for the first time directly suggesting followers have infiltrated the police and judiciary and are pushing a corruption probe against his allies.
Analysts meanwhile pointed to growing evidence of an uneasy alliance between Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islam-based government and the secular military, which for years regarded him with suspicion.
The scandal is revealing the deep cracks among Turkey's elite, spilling out into the public the power struggles that have until now mostly remained hidden. Turks are watching with disbelief as two major Islamic groups go after each other so transparently.
Erdogan has frequently pointed to outside forces as trying to destabilize the country — most recently during massive summer anti-government protests — but he has broadened his claims in the latest crisis to include domestic foes working as "pawns."
Many believe the probe was orchestrated by followers of Pennsylvania-based spiritual leader Fethullah Gulen, a moderate preacher whose network of Muslim believers command a global empire of business, media and education interests.
MORE...
http://www.omaha.com/article/20131228/AP15/312289966
