EDIRNE
A convoy made up of expat Turks from Austria, Germany, Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina has arrived in Turkey's northwest following their journey from Vienna in a show of support for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Head of the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD), Abdurrahman Karayazili, who organized the event dubbed "Respect to will of the people," told AA the convoy wanted to say "stop" to the recent events in Turkey which began with a graft probe launched on December 17.
"They have come to support our Prime Minister and our government. Because the negativities happening here upset the Turks in Europe," said Karayazili, who is leading his group to Istanbul from the northwest province of Edirne.
The corruption investigation caused controversy in the Turkish political scene after it led to the arrest of the sons of two key ministers and the head of state-owned lender Halkbank.
Prime Minister Erdogan earlier called the operation a "dirty setup" with international links designed to hinder Turkey's economic advance.
Turkey's sole exchange entity lost close to ten percent since the operation, with the total loss of value estimated at upwards of 50 billion dollars.
"We know that it was all a plot. They resort to all kinds of trickery before every election. We have come here to make plain where we stand," Karayazili said.
Turkey has a busy schedule of elections in 2014 - it prepares for local elections in March and a presidential poll in August.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
