DHAKA: Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-leaning government is engulfed in a corruption scandal, on Saturday called the political crisis a ‘plot’ against Turkey’s ‘future and stability’ by rival forces.

At a luncheon in Istanbul with generally pro-government intellectuals, writers and journalists, Erdogan reiterated his view that forces in Turkey and abroad are conspiring to oust him from power.

‘What they wanted to do was an attempted assassination of the national will,’ he said in the televised address, reports The Straits Times.

‘They tried to carry out a judicial coup in Turkey.... But we are going to oppose this operation, this December 17 plot that targeted the future, the stability of our country,’ Erdogan said.

BDST: 1928 HRS, JAN 04, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor