Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-2-25 20:30:09
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that leaked voice recordings purporting to reveal him telling his son how to hide large sums of money on the day police raided houses in a graft probe represent a "vile attack " that won't go unpunished.
The government would bring legal action against these wiretapping activities, Erdogan said addressing his lawmakers at a parliament session on Tuesday.
Erdogan's remarks came after the disclosure of audio recordings on late Monday in which he allegedly ordered his son Bilal to dispose of vast amount of cash just after a graft probe launched on Dec. 17.
The prime minister has blamed his once ally, but turned rival after the graft probe, US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan accused Gulen, who wields influence over police and judiciary, of seeking to create "a parallel state" in the country.
"We have never shared and will never share the mandate to rule Turkey, with any group, organization, or faction," Erdogan said.
A graft probe on Dec. 17, which led to resignation of three ministers whose sons were arrested on accusations of bribery and corruption, exposed a bitter feud between Erdogan's government and the influential cleric Gulen.
The leaked recordings are fake, the prime minister's office said in a statement on late Monday, adding that the recordings were the product of an "immoral montage and completely untrue."