Turkish PM Erdoğan: Turkey rejects false prophets

ISTANBUL

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has described Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen as a “false prophet” without naming him, which comes as the latest move in the dispute between the government and the Gülen’s Movement.

“Interregnum era will pass and treasons will disappear. This civilization has rejected the false prophets, false scholars just as a body rejecting a virus,” said Erdoğan at an event titled as “Islamic Culture Service in 100 years,” at Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul on Jan. 25 organized by the Religious Affairs Directorate. 

The AKP has repeatedly accused Gülen’s movement of orchestrating the probes in an attempt to topple its government. Erdoğan has denounced the existence of a “parallel state,” referring to Gülen’s followers who are known to hold key positions inside the police and the judiciary, allegedly taking decisions upon the movement’s orders. The government has responded to the graft scandal with a massive purge within the police and with the preparation of a judicial bill that has drawn controversy for increasing the executive’s control over the judiciary.