ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the Turkish nation had given him the authority to fight against the "parallel state" -- a reference to the Gulen Movement, many of whose followers are believed to work in the country's police and judicial systems.
The authority to which the prime minister referred came as a result of his party's strong showing in local elections March 30.
The Turkish Parliament opened Tuesday, and Erdogan addressed the ruling AK Party group. He said Turkey had experienced one of the most difficult election processes in its history.
He said the opposition had used unethical means in the political contest, and accused them of cooperating with national and international anti-Turkey groups.
"A dark alliance targeted the Great Turkey during the elections using terrorism, fascism, vandalism, racism, hatred and discrimination," Erdogan said, "Starting with the Gezi Park protests, certain groups plotted several operations against Turkey's stability and advancement."
Erdogan said the government would take all necessary action against those involved in plots against Turkish government.
He slammed the U.S.-based scholar Fethullah Gulen and made frequent references to the "parallel state." No action of those associated with the movement would go unpunished, he said. He said the government would take action against the Gulen movement's non-registered charities.
"We will root out all international spying activities of the parallel state and clamp down on all of its international links," Erdogan said.
He said, too, that he would not respect the Constitutional Court's ruling lifting the block on Twitter. However, the social networking site appeared to be accessible in Turkey on Tuesday.
"We never aim to restrict freedoms but we will not take hatred and racist discourse under the mask of freedom," he said.
Turkish PM condemns attack on opposition CHP leader
The punching of Turkey's opposition leader in parliament on Tuesday was strongly condemned by Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kilicdaroglu was hit by an unknown individual in parliament on his way to his party's group meeting hall.
Turkish PM following his group meeting at the parliament spoke to the journalists.
"This is not a corrrect way of behavior in a democratic parliamentary system. We never appreciate these kinds of actions and strongly condemn the attack on the opposition leader Kilicdaroglu," said Erdogan.
Stating that all necessary actions will be taken against the attacker, Erdogan then recieved a delegation of Swiss parliamentarians and Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) members at his office in the Parliament.
The meeting was closed to the press and lasted around one hour.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
